Hello, Mother
by 1FunkyMonkey
Summary: Along with Gideon, another person comes to Storybrooke from the Black Realm. She doesn't seem to make up her mind whether she wants to be Light or Dark. Her past is a shady one; can Emma and the gang trust her? And who are the girl's parents? All Emma knows is that this girl reminds her of herself, could she really be her missing daughter? Wait...what?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:**

"Other's before him coward in fear, becoming trapped in it's web. The hero, Gideon, knew this, but he was undaunted. He fought valiantly until he slayed the great spider from the echoless forest and led the villagers to safety," Gideon read from his story book. I watch him intently. The Black Fairy only ever payed attention to Gideon and everyone admired him. I return my gaze to the object in my hand. The only thing I have left of my birth mother.

Then we heard the creak of a door. She was coming. I quickly put the object under the sheets. I notice that Gideon still has his book in his hands.

"Put it away, please! Put it away Gideon!" I plead, "If she sees it, she'll know that we stole from her. Who knows what she'll do."

"It's ok, I won't let her hurt you," Gideon tells me kindly, "As long as I'm around, you'll be safe from the Black Fairy."

We look at each other through the bars on our cell door. It's true. She always listens to Gideon.

But we can't take any chances.

I tear my gaze away from Gideon and look out to the dimly lit halls. When I was younger, I was afraid of them. Now they just remind me that I'm a slave, just like everyone else here in this stupid realm.

Then I see her. The Black Fairy. Gideon notices her too and scrambles onto his bed and hides his book under a blanket just in time.

"Good night, my little darlings." She says in her sing-song voice as she walks toward our cells. Gideon and I both jump onto our beds, wondering what the Black Fairy wants this time. At least, that's what I'm wondering.

"Mother has come to wish you sweet dreams." She continues.

"Like you care," I mutter under my breath. She glares at me and then looks at Gideon.

"Gideon, I was going to tell you a bedtime story tonight— a very special one." And to everyone's surprise, she opens Gideon"s cell door and walks into his cell. Gideon quickly gets up and covers the spot where he hid his book. I check to make sure that my present was hidden. Yup, it is. Everyone is now watching the Black Fairy and Gideon. I suddenly sense that something is going to go wrong.

"But I see that you already have one," She says and grabs the book out from under its hiding place. Gideon looks at her with an upset look on his face.

"Did you really think I wouldn't know what you stole?" She laughs as she opens the book.

"Give it back. It's mine." Gideon tells her. The Black Fairy just looks at him.

"No, child. Everything here belongs to _me_."

"I've read the inscription. My real mother gave it to me," Gideon says. He should really stop if he doesn't want to die, "So I'd remember to be a hero."

Gideon, you're as good as dead now. First rule you learn here, never mention your real parents. The next rule is to never stand up to the Black Fairy. The third rule is to never mention the word _hero_. That is, if you want to survive.

" _I'm_ your real mother," She spits.

"You're _not_ my mother!" Gideon shouts, "And you never will be!"

There's silence for a bit.

"You want to be a hero, do you?" The Black Fairy asks Gideon, smiling evilly, "Just like your real mum? Well here's the truth, dearie."

Then She leans closer to Gideon and whispers to him, "Just because _she_ was a hero doesn't make _you_ one."

She laughs her ugly, childish laugh, "And now I'm going to show you _exactly_ what you are. Hahahaha."

The Black Fairy turns away from Gideon and walks right out of his cell. I sigh. Gideon isn't going to die tonight. The I realize that She was coming to me.

"Holy shit," I whisper and she opens my cell door. I scramble away from her. She grabs me by my shirt and pulls me out of my cell.

"NO!" I cry, "Help! Help! Gideon help! Help me please!"

The Black Fairy keeps dragging me and I'm resisting as much as I can. I don't want to know where we're going although I think that I do and it's not pretty.

She stops, "So you want to be a hero? Show me."

And with that, she drags me away.

I see Gideon run into his cell door, trying to open it, except that it was unlocked. He stares at it for a bit and walks out.

"Help me, help me please!" I shout. Gideon has a conflicted look on his face. He looks as if he is going to let Her get me.

"No, Gideon!" I scream again.

I see tears streaming down his face as he slowly walks back into his cell.

"Just as I thought— coward." She tells him, "You have much to learn. From _me_."

She starts to pull me away, "Gideon help!" I cry. When Gideon just sits down on his bed and his door closes, I realize that he is gone. He'll take lessons from the Black Fairy and become the villain she wants him to be. I realize that this might be the last time I see Gideon, but there is always hope. And if I do survive, I will find a way to make Gideon a hero, just like he always wanted to be.

"I'll find you, Gideon. I'll always find you." I say as She drags me around a corner and I can no longer see Gideon.

I must now await my fate.

—

 **A/N:**

 **Hi, 1FunkyMonkey here.**

 **I'm a really big fan of Once Upon A Time, so it was only a matter of time before I would write a fan fiction about it.**

 **This chapter is kind of like a flash back, like in the show. The next chapter probably will too.**

 **I hope that you liked it and…**

 **Thanks for reading and have a fantastic day!**

 **P.S.**

 **My other story,** **The Mimic** **, isn't going to end.**

 **I was just going to think about it a bit and I will write a chapter on it soon.**

 **Thank you all who have and are supporting the story.**

 **Thanks for reading and have a super duper fantastic day!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

 **Emma's POV:**

After Regina broke Mom and Dad's sleeping curse, we've been spending so much time as a family. A whole family. But today, it's just me. Me and the woods.

As I stroll through the woods, I think of all we've been through, all of the bad guys, the darkness, portals, everything. Then I see a flash of blue and black and next thing I know, I'm on the ground, my head hurting painfully.

"I'm so sorry," I hear and I look up at the voice. It's Gideon.

"Stay away from me!" I shout at him and scramble backwards. Gideon comes closer to me.

"Stand still," He ordered.

"No, why would I listen to you?" I ask, walking backwards as he advances.

"Please, just stand still," He pleads.

"Don't come any closer," I tell him and get my magic ready. He stops and puts his hands up. I'm not sure if he's surrendering or if he's annoyed. It might be both.

"Fine," he says, "But can you please just trust me?"

"No, you had that chance and you blew it!"

He starts to walk closer to me again. I raise my hands, ready to strike if needed.

"Please Emma, don't move," Gideon trys again.

"Why are you so eager for me to stop!?" I shout.

"Stop and you'll find out."

I know that I should run away, but my curiosity gets the best of me.

"Fine, but no funny business," I decide.

Gideon slowly approach's me and reaches his hands out. I'm not sure what he's doing. He puts his hands over my head and seems to grab something.

"Gotcha," He says to whatever's in his hands. I come closer to him.

"What's that?" I ask and he opens his hands. Inside them is a black and blue butterfly.

"Let me guess, another friend?" I guess.

"No," He says shaking his head, "Actually she kind of is, but not like the spider."

"Then who?" I ask, shuddering at the thought of the spider.

"Do you have any Fairy Dust?" Gideon questions.

"Why in the world do you want that!?" I wonder out loud.

"To fix her. I thought she died," Gideon says and he seems to get upset. I'm getting really annoyed because I'm getting no answers here.

"Ok, I'm taking you to my house," I decide. Gideon looks at me with a confused face.

"Wait, what! Why?" he asks.

"Because I don't know what else to do with you," I say and teleport us to my living room in a cloud of grey smoke.

When the smoke clears, I see Henry and Killian jump off the couch. I forgot that they were home.

"Emma, why did you bring him home?" Killian asks me, pointing at Gideon.

"I'm offended!" Gideon says, "I have a name you know."

"A person like you doesn't deserve a name," Henry spits. I'm shocked! I can't believe that Henry said that. He never says anything like that! Sure he gets angry, but never like this.

"Henry, can you call everyone, Gideon has some explaining to do." I tell Henry.

"Fine," he grumbles and pulls out his phone.

"Love, can I speak with you, alone?" Killian asks, looking suspiciously at Gideon.

"Sure," I tell him and he pulls me upstairs.

"Are you insane?" He asks, "Bringing him here is like a death wish! And he's the one who's going to kill you!"

"I'm sorry Killian, but my curiosity got the best of me. And I just got a feeling that I needed to take him home with me." I tell him. Killian just looks at me, not saying anything. Luckily, the doorbell rings.

"I'll get it!" I hear Henry shout. I look at Killian and go downstairs.

"Hi Mom, hi Dad," I say, hugging them.

"Hi Emma," They respond.

Mom, Dad, Regina, Mr. Gold, and Belle pile in the house and I bring them to the kitchen, along with Gideon. Everyone just looks at him, probably wondering what he has in his hands.

"Spill," I tell him. He looks at me, annoyed.

"This is my friend," He starts, revealing the butterfly in his hands, "and she needs help getting out."

There's silence for a bit.

"That's a butterfly," Regina says slowly, "Not a person."

"No, no, he might be right." Mom says, "Remember Regina, Black Fairy Dust."

"Alright, say that that is a person, how did she get this way?" Regina asks.

Gideon closes his eyes, "Because I was stupid and a coward."

"Son, you're not stupid," Gold says.

"And you're not a coward," Belle tells him

Gideon opens his eyes, "If I just saved her in the first place then she wouldn't be this way."

"Who is she?" Dad asks.

"A friend." Gideon responds, "We were roommates. She and I, we shared everything. Until I failed."

"What's her name?" Henry asks.

Gideon shakes his head, "She doesn't have one."

"Wait, she doesn't have a name? No one bothered to name her?" I ask, shocked.

"Well, there were rumors that she was an orphan. Of course, only the Black Fairy knew if they were true or not and rule number one: Don't mention your real parents." Gideon tells us.

"How do we know that you're telling the truth?" Killian asks, looking at me.

"My lie-detector hasn't picked ups any lies yet," I say.

"So you'll help me?" Gideon asks. I look across the room. I decide that Gold and Belle should make this decision. He is their son after all.

"Gold, Belle, what do you think," I say, looking at them. They look nervously at each other.

"Ok," Belle says, finally. Gold takes a little longer to decide.

"It's fine with me too," He tells me.

I wave my hand and in a cloud of grey smoke, a flask of pink Fairy Dust appears.

"Where did you get that?" Regina asks me.

"You'll never know," I say. Gideon puts his friend on the table and I hand the flask to him. But before he could uncork it,

"Wait, are you sure that this is a good idea? What if the girl is worse than him?" Killian questions. Gideon stops what he's doing and hands the flask to me. I get nervous for a second but then he says,

"Emma can do it. You trust her."

I look at him and uncork the flask. I slowly pour the dust over the butterfly. A cloud of pink smoke appears where the butterfly was, moves to the floor, and grows bigger and bigger until it was the size of a human. When the smoke clears, in front of us is…

—

 **A/N:**

 **Hi, 1FunkyMonkey here.** **I hope that you enjoyed this chapter because I enjoyed writing it.** **I know that I left it on a cliff hanger and that you're probably going to hate me for that.**

 **Muhahahahahahahaha!**

 **Anyways, I'm going to make the next chapter have a flashback, explaining how she (the butterfly) got that way.** **So, please don't be too mad because the next chapter will be really, really, super duper amazing!**

 **Thanks for reading and have a fantastic day!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

As the smoke clears, I see Gideon was right. The butterfly _was_ a girl. She's on her hands and knees and she coughs. Then she flips over on her back.

"I never want to see another butterfly again," She says in a hoarse voice. Gideon holds out his hand to her and she takes it. Next thing I know is that Gideon is on the floor and the girl is standing up.

"Ow!" Gideon shouts, "What was that for?"

The girl just shrugs her shoulders. Gideon gets up off of the floor and he and the girl hug.

"I thought that you died," Gideon said.

"I thought that _you_ died," The girl tells him.

They pull away from the hug and Gideon says,

"What are you wearing?."

I don't know what the girl was wearing before, but now she was wearing a white shirt with a black leather jacket, skinny jeans, and brown combat boots.

"I don't know," The girl says, examining herself, "At least I don't have wings. Those were a pain in the butt."

Gideon laughs at this and she gives him a death stare.

"So are you going to introduce me?" the girl asks, pointing to us.

"Oh, yeah. So that's my mom and Dad, Rumplestitskin and Belle," Gideon says, pointing to them, "And then there's Snow White, David, Regina, Henry, Killian, and Emma."

The girls eyes widen when Gideon mentions my name.

"Emma, like, the Savior?" She questions, turning my direction.

"Yeah I guess you could call me that. I prefer Emma though," I tell her and she smiles.

"The stories were true then. There really is a Savior." The girl says excitedly.

"Well, now that you're a human again, you can answer some of our questions," I tell her.

She looks at me with a confused face, "That sounded like a command. But I guess that I have nothing better to do, so why not?"

—

We decide to go to Regina's house because it has more space.

"So, who are you and why are you here?" Killian immediately asks once we've all sat down at the table. The girl frowns.

"Ok, you can ask any question but that one," She says.

Regina sighs, "We don't have time to play guessing games. Some of us have other things that we can be working on. Just tell us who you are and what you're doing here."

The girl mutters something under her breath. Regina raises her eyebrows and looks at me.

"Well, Ms. Swan, are you going to help out or not?" Regina asks, "You _are_ the sheriff."

That's true, but I have a feeling that I've meet this girl before. Maybe we were in foster care together? Wait, that wouldn't make sense. She looks like she's about 20 and she's been in the Black Fairy's Realm her whole life. At least, that's what I get from looking at her.

"How did you become a butterfly?" Mom asks. Gideon tenses at this question and the girl just looks sad.

Wait, her eyes! That look in her eyes reminds me of…. well….me. I had that look when I was in many of my foster homes and I remember having it in prison. It was the look of hopelessness. Like, the whole world was against you and nothing could make you feel better. I wonder if she had that look in her eyes when she transformed back into a human. I'll have to look at that in a dreamcatcher later.

I notice that the girl has clenched her jaw. But it didn't seem like she was angry. She seemed nervous. It reminded me of Neal. He always did that when he was nervous, or thinking hard. I found it funny and would tease him about it all the time.

"That's…That's a good question," The girl says, shakily. We're putting to much pressure on her and it seems like she doesn't quite trust us yet. Although she seemed very excited when she learned that I was the Savior. God, I hate that name.

"I….I rather not talk about that place," She says, very fast and turns away. I look at Dad. I lean in and whisper to him,

"We need to stop, we're putting to much pressure on her."

He nods.

"Hey, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Why don't you stay with me and Snow for your stay in Storybrooke?" Dad says and Mom looks at him.

"David, really? We don't even know the girl!" She whispers loudly.

"I think that it's a great idea!" Killian tells everyone. I look at him. Why this change of heart? Then I realize that he seems relieved. Did he think that the girl was going to stay with us? Jail was easily out of the option, so she would probably stay in one of our houses. Granny's is full too, so even if she wanted her own room, it wouldn't happen.

"Ok, so that's settled," Regina says, "But before you leave, one more question. Do you know who your parents are?"

The girl thinks hard about this and she seems like she's about to answer but instead,

"That information does not need to be known," She says sternly.

"So you _do_ know who your parents are?" Regina asks.

"That was more than one question, Regina." I tell her.

"Since when did you care about that stuff?" Regina questions.

"Doesn't matter. We have all of the information that we need to know." I reply.

"What we don't know _anything_! Don't you understand English Swan?" Killian asks me. Ugh, not him too.

"Meet me at my house tomorrow morning," I tell everyone and walk out of the house. Talk about a dramatic exit! Who needs dramatic entrances when you can make dramatic exits! Besides, I don't know what they're thinking because I've picked up plenty of information during that short amount of time. I guess that it could be because of my job as a bail bonds person.

But why do I feel like I know her?

—

 **A/N:**

 **Hi, 1FunkyMonkey here!**

 **This chapter has been a bit difficult for me to write, so I hope that you like it.** **I'm sorry that there was no flashback. There will be one soon.** **And I want to apologize in advance for probably not being able to write frequently.** **I'm homeschooled and I finished a lot of my schoolwork in the beginning of the school year and now I pretty much just have math to do. And I suck at math.** **Well, I don't suck, but it takes me a bit to learn the lesson, so school is taking up a lot of my day right now.**

 **Anyways…..**

 **Thanks for reading and have a fantastic day!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

 **The girl's POV:**

After that little chat- which I hated- Snow and David take me to their house. Snow still doesn't seem to like me. David is a little better, but he doesn't seem to like me either.

When we get there, David holds the door open for me.

"Welcome to our house." he says as I walk through the door.

Their house is kind of like a loft. It looks very cozy and it seems much better than my cell. I realize that there's another woman was in the house. She had wavy, red hair and was wearing a green shirt with black pants.

"Thanks Zelena for watching Neal," Snow says to the woman.

"Of course. Neal and Robin love playing with each other don't they," the woman- Zelena- tells Snow. I realize that there were two basinets next to each other, both with babies inside them.

"Who's this?" Zelena asks, pointing to me. I hide behind my hair. Zelena looks like a person who would shift sides on the battlefield for her own good.

"This is someone new in town and she's going to stay here for a bit," David answers.

"Someone new? We don't get to many newcomers here." Zelena says.

"Zelena, would you mind watching Neal and the girl tomorrow morning too? Emma needs us at her house and I don't want to have to bring Neal. Or the girl," Snow asks.

"I don't need a babysitter!" I cry. I'm 20 years old and perfectly capable of looking after myself. I've done ever since I could remember and I still do it. In fact, I used to watch over the younger kids in the Black Realm. Not that it matters anymore though…..

"I know that you're old enough to not need a babysitter, but we just meet, like, a couple minutes ago. And besides, Neal needs someone to watch him. And no, you can't do it." Snow tells me and I pout.

"Don't worry, we'll have lots of fun," Zelena says, gets up, and takes one of the basinets with her, "See you tomorrow!"

David nods at her and she leaves. Snow goes over to the kitchen.

"What do you want for dinner?" She asks me.

"Wait, you want my opinion?" I say, surprised.

"No one has ever made you dinner before?" Snow says, looking concerned.

"No, not really. I've been told that I'm a picky eater, but if you didn't eat what was on your plate, then you would go hungry." I tell her.

"It doesn't look like you've eaten in a bit," David comments, "How long has it been since you last ate?"

"I don't know. Butterfly had such weird tastes, I've got to tell you," I say.

"What's your name?" David asks, "We need something to call you."

Uh oh. Problem. I have no idea what my name is. No one has ever bothered to give me one. Except Gideon. We had nicknames for each other. I still remember his.

"I…I'm not sure," I say.

"No one has ever bothered to give you a name?" Snow asks. She's put a pot on the stove and it sounds like there's boiling water in it.

I shake my head.

"You and Gideon didn't have nicknames for each other?" she questions.

Wait, how did she know?! Is she a mind reader? Should I lie? I mean, those were _our_ nicknames. I don't even think that She knows them.

I shake my head again.

"Come on, all friends have nicknames for each other," Snow pesters.

"Well, these friends don't," I lie. There's silence for a bit.

"Come here, I'll show you where you'll be sleeping," David tells me. He escorts me up the stairs and shows me the guest room. It has a nice bed, a dresser, a desk, and a nice view to Storybrooke.

"I'm sorry that we don't have any extra cloths for you, but I know someone who might. I'll give them a call," David says.

"No, it's fine. These cloths are the nicest things I've ever owned. But thanks anyways," I tell him and he looks at me weirdly.

"It doesn't sound like the Black Fairy treated you well," David comments. I shudder at the memory and then shrug my shoulders.

"It wasn't that bad," I lie again.

"I'll let you be for a bit and we'll call you down for dinner, ok?" David asks and I nod.

Once he's gone, I realize that I was holding my breath and I let it out. After a bit, I sit down on the bed trying to process what just happened in the last couple hours.

I can't believe that I found the Savior. Well, Gideon found her. But he does't know that I know that She has his heart. I need to get it back. But I can't just walk up to Her and ask for it. I need a plan.

—

I wake up to the sound of crying. I must of fallen asleep. Damn it. I go downstairs only to find that Zelena was holding a crying baby. I don't know if it's Neal or Robin. The baby was wrapped up in a pink blanket, so I think that it's Robin. Zelena finally notices me.

"Good morning sleepy head," She says.

"What time is it?" I ask.

"Why do you want to know that?" Zelena questions, still trying to calm down Robin.

"Just answer the question!" I snap. I'm tired of people not trusting me.

"Wow, no need to be so cranky. It's 10:30." She tells me.

"10:30!" I cry, surprised, "I usually wake up around 6:30. It must be because time is different here."

Robin's crying must be contagious or something because Neal started crying too.

"Oh, not you too," Zelena says, annoyed.

"Here, let me try," I tell Zelena, with my arms held out.

"Why would I trust you with my child. Or Neal. For all I know, you're working of the Black Fairy too," Zelena says. I wince at Her name.

"I used to take care of the younger children in the mines. I have experience." I tell her. Zelena sighs.

"Alright, since I only have two hands, I guess that you could try. But no funny business," she says, "You can take Neal."

I go over to the second bassinet and look inside. Neal is crying up a storm, flailing his little arms and legs everywhere. I gently pick him up.

"Shhh," I whisper and slowly rock side to side, "it's ok."

Neal doesn't stop crying. I start humming a tune.

" _I cried and called my sweethearts name_ ," I sing, " _but never saw sweet baby again_."

Immediately Neal _and_ Robin stop crying.

"How did you do that? Where did you learn that lullaby?" Zelena asks, astounded.

"I don't know. The words just kind of….. came to me," I answer. It feels kind of like a memory, but a very distant memory. Maybe my birth mother sang to me before I was taken away.

"Well whatever it is, it stopped the crying," Zelena comments. I smile.

Neal looks up at me and I look into his eyes. They seem familiar, like I've seen them before. But I haven't. At least, I don't remember seeing them. I put Neal back into his bassinet. He holds onto my finger and my heart melts.

"You don't know how lucky you are," I tell him, "On day, you'll appreciate what you have."

There's silence for a bit.

"What did the Black Fairy do to you?" Zelena asks.

"No child should go through what she does," I tell her, gritting my teeth, "It's wrong. Every child should be loved and appreciated. They should be given hope, not sorrow."

I feel tears in my eyes.

"I'm sorry I asked," Zelena whispers.

"It's ok," I say quietly. It's not ok, but I have to make her believe that I'm fine. I don't need anyone's pity. I can do this on my own. I'll save everyone.

—

 **A/N:**

 **Hi, 1FunkyMonkey here,**

 **Sorry that it took so long to write this chapter. I've been really busy, even on the weekends.** **The next chapter will be what happened at Emma's house.** **Yesterday was the musical episode and I was jumping up and down literally.** **I actually cried at Emma's and Killian's wedding.**

 **Gosh, I'm turning into a grandma.**

 **Anyways, shout out to all of those who cried too.** **I wonder what happened after the Black Fairy cast her curse.** **Heads up, I might take some scenes from the episodes and twist them to fit my story. I was thinking of using the wedding dress scene and possibly making some songs of my own. I will probably make Henry sing because we didn't see that.** **For those of you who listen closely to the episode, you'll realize that the girl's lullaby is actually the Black Fairy's lullaby.**

 **That's all for now, thanks for reading and have a fantastic day!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **Emma's POV:**

When I got home, I realized that Regina called me _Ms. Swan_ and that Belle and Gold didn't speak the whole time that we were at Regina's house.

Weird.

 **The next morning:**

"Ok, everyone, I'm glad that you could make it," I announce to Killian, Mom, Dad, Henry, Regina, Belle, and Gold.

"Emma, what did you mean when you said that you had all of the information that we needed?" Mom asks.

"The girl, she…she reminded me of me," I say, "She had that look of hopelessness when we asked her about her past. She clearly has trust issues too. I noticed that she seemed comfortable around Gideon only. Although she seemed to like me. And—"

"Ok, Emma one thing at a time," Regina interrupts me, "How did figure out all of that?"

I shrug my shoulders, "It must be because my job used to be finding people. I've learned over the years to how to notice even the smallest of details when interrogating people."

"Well, your going to have to use those skills now because this girl seems like she'll be tough to crack," Dad informs me.

"She can't be that bad," I say.

"No Emma, your father is right. She's worse than you when you first came to Storybrooke," Mom tells me and I raise my eyebrows. I remember when I first came to Storybrooke. I remember how high my walls were. I remember how hard I found it to trust and how independent I was.

"Well you better get started because Gideon isn't telling us anything," Gold says, "If we know what happened to the girl, then we might know what happened to him."

"This isn't just about your son!" I shout and everyone seemed taken back by my remark, "Did you see how nervous the girl got when we asked her about the butterfly? Didn't you notice how broken she looked? She isn't going to open up overnight. Like Dad said, she's going to be tough to crack."

I don't know why I feel so protective over this girl. Maybe it's because she reminds me of me? I'm not sure.

"Mom, why don't you let me talk to her?" Henry asks, "Maybe she would be more comfortable around someone her age."

"Henry, lad, the girl looked about twenty years old. If I recall correctly, you're only sixteen." Killian tells Henry.

"Henry, thank's for offering, but maybe you should leave this to the adults and go figure out what your hieroglyphs mean," Regina says.

"Mom, I'm old enough to be included in this stuff! Like Killian said, I'm sixteen!" Henry exclaims and turns to face me, "Mom you understand, right?"

"Henry, just to be safe, I think that you should sit this one out," I tell him.

"Do you all think that I should go?" Henry asks everyone. We all nod our heads in agreement.

"Argh!" he shouts and runs up the stairs to his room.

"I'll go talk to him," Regina says and follows Henry up the stairs.

"I think that we'll just be going now….," Belle tells me and pulls Gold out the door.

"Um, I think that we'll be going too," Dad says and he and Mom leave.

Now it's just me and Killian.

"Killian, do you think that I did the right thing, telling Henry to sit this one out?" I ask him.

"I think that it's natural for you to worry for his safety, but Henry is growing up and soon he'll be able to make his own decisions. I know that it's hard for you to believe but Henry is almost an adult and I think that he should be included in these types of things," Killian responds.

"Really, you think? But what if he gets hurt? I would never be able to forgive myself and Regina would kill me," I tell him.

"I'll teach him how to fight, how to defend himself. David has taught him some sword fighting right? So he already knows some fighting skills." he reassures me.

"Thanks Killian," I say.

"Of course love," Killian tells me and gives me a kiss. I kiss back.

"Um, am I interrupting anything?" I hear. It's Regina.

"Oh….um… no nothing," I say quickly.

"Okkkkkkkk. I got Henry to understand and he taking some time off in his room," Regina informs me, "I'll be going now."

"Wait, Regina, can you stay for a bit?" I ask her and she looks confused.

"Sure?" she questioned.

"Killian can you give us a minute?" I tell him.

"Of course love," he says, gives me a little kiss on the check, and goes outside.

I wait for him to be completely out of the door before facing Regina.

"What's wrong Emma?" Regina asks, "You look troubled."

"It's….um…..it's about Henry," I tell her, "In case… In case anything bad happens, he needs to get out of here, quickly."

"I know, I've already arranged for that."

"You have?"

"You remember when Zelena gave away her magic?"

"Yeah."

"Well, she was worried that she wouldn't be able to protect Robin, so I told her that she might not have to. I gave her keys to a new car. She's never driven a car before and she got very frustrated. She told me that it was pointless, but I said that it wasn't. I told her that this wasn't just about Robin, that it was also about Henry. If things get too much, I told her to take Robin and Henry and to get as far away from Storybrooke as possible. I have emergency bags packed too."

"Regina, you're a lifesaver!" I exclaim. I can't believe that she planned that far ahead. Now, should I tell her about…. no, I shouldn't.

"Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" Regina asks me.

"No," I say quickly. Too quickly.

"Come on Emma. You've always have been an open book to me."

I have to tell her now, but I don't know how. Ugh, why does life have to be so confusing!

"I…..I…," I stutter, "I…um…There's no easy way to tell you this."

"It's ok Emma, you can trust me," Regina says, kindly. I take a deep breath before telling her.

"Henryhasatwin," I say very fast.

"Wait, what!?" Regina asks, extremely confused.

"Henry has a twin," I tell her, more slowly this time. Regina is silent for a while.

"You want to know if they mentioned a twin when I adopted Henry," Regina says.

I nod my head.

"There was no mention of a twin, but why is this information popping up now!" she asks.

"I just wanted to know if she's safe. I would love to meet her, but I can't afford to bring her into this mess. And I'm about to die. I don't want my daughter to learn that I have her brother and that her dad died and then learn that I have a death wish. At least Henry would have you, but…I…..I want my daughter to grow up with her family, with me. And now that I know that I can be a parent, I'm going to die," I confess.

"You have a daughter. I can't believe it," Regina says.

"Well, you better because, if possible, I want to see her, to talk to her. I want to tell her that she is loved and that one day, her family will find her," I tell her.

"Wait, what are you implying?" Regina questions.

"I'm going to send a letter to my daughter and, one day, when this is all over, I want you to bring her here. I need you to to promise that you'll take care of her. If you can't, please, please, please, ask Zelena to, because I don't want her to live the same way I did."

"Emma, you sound like you're sure that you're going to die."

So she figured it out. Now I have to tell her.

"That's because I am going to die. It's the Saviors fate to die. Once I'm gone, there will be a new Savior."

"Who?"

"You, Regina, it'll be you."

"Emma, I'm flattered, but all I know is how to cause pain and kill. I assure you that I'm no Savior. And didn't you say that all Savior's die?"

"Yes, but this time will be different. After I die, the only evil thing left should be the Black Fairy. We've defeated pretty much all of the evil stuff that she's made. And I know that you can defeat her. Who knows more about Dark Magic than you?"

Regina is silent for a bit.

"I'll try my best."

"Thank you."

We're silent for a bit.

"How do you know where to send the letter?" Regina asks.

"We'll use your mirrors. You can locate anyone with them correct?" I say.

"They can locate anyone, but there might be a problem. When the Evil Queen sent us to the Mirror Realm, remember that Henry destroyed it?" Regina tells me. I want to punch a wall right now. All I want to see my daughter!

"There has to be a way," I say.

"It would be difficult, but I might be able to fix it. I'm sure that Zelena could help, you know that she is better at magic than I am."

"Didn't she get ride of her magic?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't know how it works."

A smile appears on my face. I don't remember the last time I smiled.

"Regina, you don't know how much this means to me," I tell her. She truly is a Savior.

"Oh, I think that I do," she says.

—

 **At Snow and David's house:**

 **Snow's POV:**

When we get to the loft, I see Zelena doing the dishes, the girl laying down on the couch, and Neal and Robin were sleeping. I don't know how Zeena does it, but she truly is an amazing mother.

"Zelena, you are amazing," I say.

"Thank you. But—" Zelena starts to speak but she looks at the girl and stops. Something has happened.

"What happened?" Charming asks, taking the words right out of my mouth.

"Nothing," Zelena reply, quickly. The girl is silent.

"Okkkkkkk," I say.

"Thank you for watching Neal. Again," David tells Zelena.

"It's no problem, I'll come over anytime if you want me too," she responds.

Once she is out the door, Charming turns to the girl.

"What did you do?" he demands.

"I woke up, chatted with Zelena, ate breakfast, and have been lying here until you came," she says.

"That's not what I meant. If I find out that you've put Zelena, Neal, and/or Robin under a spell, I will personally see you killed."

"Noted."

The girl seems so calm about this. I wonder if the Black Fairy gave her death threats, making her used to them. David and the girl stare at each other.

"Well, do you want to go out to lunch?" I ask, breaking the silence. It takes a bit until one of them responds.

"Yeah, sure," the girl says.

"Why not?" David replys.

 **At Granny's:**

I see the girl, staring at the menu, probably confused. I wonder how long we're going to call her _the girl_. She needs a name.

"Are you sure that you've never had a name?" I ask her. She looks up at me with sad eyes.

"My parents never bothered to name me, and She doesn't care, so no, I've never had a name," she responds. I think that when she said _She_ , she meant the Black Fairy.

"Do you want a name?" David questions. Good move David. Slow, but steady might get her to open up. And if this girl is anything like Emma, showing her that we care will get her to open up too.

The girl just shrugs her shoulders.

"I've never really thought about it," she tells us, "I just did my job, trying so hard to not become a mindless slave. To not lose hope. But of course, a person can only hold on for so long, especially when you're alone."

She looks so sad, so…..broken. Broken is the word to describe her.

I look at David. He seems to have noticed her brokenness. Is that a word? I'm a schoolteacher, so I should know if it's a word, but I really don't.

"Have you ever tried a cheeseburger?" Charming asks the girl, changing the topic. Another good move.

"No, but I've read about them." she says.

I look at her, confused. She sees my confusion and says,

"There was quite a library back there. You won't believe how many books She had about other realms. Me and Gideon always dreamed of coming here, so when we had free time, we would go to the library and learn about ' _The Land Without Magic'_."

That's the first thing that she's said to us without getting upset. Whoops, I thought to soon. She now looks like she's hurting on the inside.

"Of course, it's more fun when you're with a friend," she says, afterwards. Something happened between her and Gideon, I just know it.

"Can I take your order?" our waitress asks. Great timing too. Everything is working perfectly today! Well, almost perfect.

"Yeah sure," David says, "I'll take a grilled cheese with french fries."

"A salad please," I tell her.

Now it's the girls turn. The waitress looks at her.

"Are you new?" the waitress asks.

"You could say that," the girl says, shrugging her shoulder. I notice that she does that a lot, "Could I please have a cheeseburger?"

"Of course!" the waitress tells her, cheerfully, "Your order will be ready soon."

We're all silent for a while. I open my mouth to speak, but before I can, Emma enters Granny's.

She comes up to us and says,

"Mom, Dad, I need to talk to you about something….." she starts, but notices the girl and pauses, "Um, never mind it can wait."

Emma started to leave, but Charming gets up and catches her arm.

"What is it Emma?" he asks.

"It needs to be discussed when we're alone. So when you're done, text me and I'll come over. The girl can't hear, we'll drop her off at my house; Henry and Killian are there."

"Ok."

And with that, Emma leaves.

"Why does nobody trust me?" the girl whispers. I don't answer because I don't want to make her upset. Just on time, our waitress comes over.

"Foods here," she tells us.

I wonder what Emma wants to tell us.

The girl bits into her cheeseburger and her eyes light up. I want to laugh, but I'm sure that she won't like it. Wait, since when did I care about such things?

—

 **At Snowing's house:**

What Emma said at the diner made me curious. What did she want to talk about? Why so secretive?

After we drop off the girl at Emma's house, I text her, telling her that we're home. It weirded me out that Emma wasn't at her house. It was Killian who answered the door.

"I'm here!" Emma shouts as she opens the door. I notice that Regina is behind her, so is Pinocchio. I mean August.

"Hello, Emma. I see that you've brought Regina and August with you," I reply.

"Yeah, well, they need to be included in this conversation," she says.

"Are you going to tell them Emma?" Regina asks. I look at David. He looks as confused as I am.

"Mom, Dad, there is no easy way to tell you this," Emma starts, "But it has to be done."

"Emma, you know that we love you no matter what," David tell her.

"I know, I know," Emma pauses for a bit and looks at August. Then she turns back to us, "It's about Henry."

"What about Henry? Is he ok?" I ask. If Henry isn't ok, then we need to find him right away. But if Henry was missing or hurt, both Regina and Emma would be looking more worried.

"He's fine, it's more about his…..his sister actually," Emma manages.

I'm not entirely sure if I heard that correctly. Henry has a _sister_?

"Henry has a twin sister. I…..I want to talk to her and I need your help to do it." Emma tell us.

"We've figured out a way to find her, but Emma wanted to tell you guys before doing anything. She also insisted on having you with her when we look in the mirrors." Regina says.

"You have a daughter….." Charming breaths.

"Yes Dad I have a daughter. Now if you would close your mouth, we could get on with finding her," Emma tells him.

I laugh a little bit, but David shoots me a death stare, so I stop.

Regina pulls out a little mirror.

"This is what we're going to use to find her," she says.

Regina waves her hand over the mirror, but nothing happens. She tries again and again, but the mirror remains blank.

"Ugh!" she cries in frustration and almost smashes the mirror, but Emma stops her.

"Let me try," Emma says calmly.

She takes the mirror and waves her hand over it. This time, mirror glows a light grey color- the color of Emma's magic- , but then returns to its original state. Emma tries once more to do it. The mirror stays grey for longer. We wait as the grey swirls around and around, but when it clears, nothing is in the mirror except our refections.

All of a sudden, it gets colder in the room.

"You'll never find her," I hear. I turn around to see the Black Fairy.

"What are you doing here?" David spits.

"Just wanted to see your faces when I tell you that your _daughter_ can't be found." the Black Fairy tells us.

"What did you do with her?" Emma demands. She's going into protective-mode now, and when Emma does that, things tend to get destructive.

"Oh, I only did what you could not."

"Oh yeah and what's that?"

The Black Fairy gets face to face with Emma. I try to move, but I'm frozen in place. I can't speak either. I look around and notice that everyone else is frozen too with the exception of Emma.

"I _raised_ her. I gave her a home when you could not. I made her _strong_."

Emma is silent for a bit. She and the Black Fairy are in a staring match and Emma is the first to speak.

"You might of raised her, but you're not her family," Emma says.

"When I'm done with her, she will not need family. Love will only make her weak. Once you realize that she cannot be brought back, that's when we will fight," the Black Fairy whispers to Emma and backs off.

She looks at all of us.

"I can't wait to see the looks on your faces when she rips out your hearts!" the Black Fairy exclaims with a little laugh.

All of a sudden, we get unfrozen. I'm so startled by it, that I stumble forward.

Regina and Emma summon their magic.

"You won't get away with this!" Emma shouts and she and Regina fire their magic. But before it could hit the Black Fairy, she disappears in a cloud of black smoke.

The magic hits the couch and it explodes.

"Whoops," Regina says, "Don't worry, I'll fix it."

With a wave of her hand, the couch is fixed.

I go up to Emma and give her a hug.

"Are you ok?" I ask, knowing that it was a stupid question, but I ask it anyways.

"No, but I will be once that fairy goes to hell," Emma tells me.

"Don't worry, we'll find her and defeat her, just like all of the other monsters we've beaten," David reassures her.

"Thanks Dad, but the Black Fairy made it sound impossible."

"Emma, we will find your daughter," August says.

"August why are you here?" I ask him. He doesn't seem to be needed here.

"In this world, there's a thing called godparents and—" Emma starts but I interrupt.

"We know what godparents are, Emma. Yours are Red and Grumpy," I tell her.

"Wait, what?" she questions, looking very confused.

"They were the only other people we could trust with you in case we died. But of course that never really happened," David explains.

"Well, anyways…. Regina and August are going to be Henry's and Natalie's godparents. It won't be recorded down, but they are whom I trust to take care of them. Besides, Regina is already Henry's mother." Emma tells us.

"Natalie," Regina says, "That's a pretty name."

"It's…..uh…..what I wanted to name my daughter if I ever had one. But, um, since I was under the circumstances that I was under, it never really worked out."

"Don't worry Emma, we will find her. Even if we have to go to the Black Fairy's place, we will," I tell Emma.

"I hope that won't necessary, but thanks for offering."

I will do anything for my daughter. If that means possibly finding my killer, so be it. But I don't believe what the Black Fairy said. If Emma's daughter is anything like Emma, I know that she would fight until the very end.

—

 **A/N:**

 **Hi, 1FunkyMonkey here,**

 **I know that this chapter is all over the place, but it was either this, or really short chapters. I decided this.**

 **1,000,000 points to anyone who can figure out who Natalie is. If you know, please don't put it in the comments in case someone else doesn't know and is trying to figure out for themselves. So basically, no spoilers.**

 **Thanks for reading and have a fantastic day!**

 **P.S.**

 **If you can, please leave a review because it helps me to know if I'm doing something wrong, or if you have an idea you would like to share.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

 **At CaptainSwan's House:**

 **The girl's POV:**

Lunch at Granny's was wonderful. No, fantastic. No, stupendous.

To put it simply, cheeseburgers are _amazing_.

When we're done, Snow and David drop me off at Emma's house. Apparently, Emma didn't want me listening in while she told her parents something. I'm old enough to be included in these conversations you know? And it probably had something to do with me too.

When I knock on the door, it takes a while for someone to open it. It's Killian who opens the door.

"Hello," Killian tells me.

'Uh, hi," I say nervously. If I recall correctly, Killian didn't like me too much.

We stand in awkward silence for a bit.

"Um, come in," he says.

"Thanks."

Wow, I'm terrible at human interaction. Actually, I've always have. Gideon was the only one who understood me. But I learned that even those close to you will turn on you eventually.

Being inside Emma's house while I'm human is better than being in it when I was a butterfly. Henry soon comes down the stairs.

"Awesome, you're here," Henry says, "Come on, come with me."

And then he runs back up the stairs. I turn to Killian.

"Is he always like this?" I ask. I've haven't known Henry for too long, and he hasn't said anything to me until now.

"He's been acting strange lately, but I'm sure that's because of all of the stuff going on right now," Killian answers, "But he's been dying to meet you, so I would go upstairs with him. But any funny business, and I will kill you!"

What is it and everybody wanting to kill me?

"Don't worry, I'm a nice person," I tell him and smile. He doesn't smile back.

After I go upstairs, it takes me a while to find Henry's room. The only reason I've found it was because of all of the cloths and comic books on the floor.

"Sorry for the mess," Henry apologizes when I walk in.

"Oh, no it's fine," I reply. I decide to keep out the, 'It's way better than what I had,' because I don't need anyone taking pity on me.

"So, why did you want me up here?" I ask.

Henry takes a deep breath before saying, "I wanted to talk about the Final Battle."

The Final Battle. That's all that She would talk about. There were so many rumors about the Final Battle and the Savior.

"You want to know if Emma will survive?" I question. I'm not sure if I can trust Henry yet, so I'm not going to give away any information until I'm certain that he can be trusted. Besides, this is the first conversation that I've had with him. I don't know if he's planning something.

"Yeah," he says and then whispers, "If Mom were to die… I just can't think of that."

"Well, I can't see the future, but I do know of something that might help," I tell Henry. I have an idea that might get me what I want. What we both want. If only Henry would take the bait.

"What is it? Some kind of weapon? A weakness? Tell me!" Henry exclaims. I can sense how desperate he is for Emma to survive.

"I'll tell you what I know," I say and then get closer to Henry, "for a price."

He looks at me, confused. Did I do something wrong? I guess that deals were kind of Rumpelstiltskin's thing, but that doesn't mean that I can't do them too, right?

"A deal?" he asks.

"You could say that."

"Ok, what do you want? Money? Fame? I'm sure that there could be a way that we can give that to you."

Wow, I didn't expect Henry to take the deal so quickly. But I can't show weakness.

"What I want, is not an item," I reply.

"Well, what is it?" Henry asks. Wow, this deal thing is so fun. Why haven't I tried it before?

"To be left _alone_. I want to be able to be trusted with what I do, and not be questioned about it," I tell him, "By all of you."

"And in exchange, you'll give me information on the Black Fairy?" Henry questions. I flinch at Her name. I'm sure that Henry noticed, but he didn't say anything.

"Of course. Do we have a deal?"

Henry thinks about this for a bit.

"No," he decides. I'm shocked.

'Why? Don't you want Emma to win the Final Battle?"

"Yes, but I can't make decisions for everyone else. And it sounds like you're planning something evil."

It's my turn to think about this. I'm not planning something evil. I just need people to stay out of my way.

"What if I knocked off the 'by all of you' part? Would you take the deal then?"

"No."

I get a bit angry at this. Why can't anyone trust me?! What's so bad about me that everyone hates?!

"Then I guess that you won't get your information from me. Good luck finding it elsewhere," I tell Henry and back away. I look at him for a bit, wondering why he didn't take my offer. Then I leave the room.

When I get down the stairs, Killian walks up to me.

"What happened?" he asks. Actually, it's more like demands.

"We talked," I tell him and it's not exactly a lie.

"Stop finding loopholes in everything we ask you! I don't need another Crocodile."

I wonder what he means by _Crocodile_. Maybe Rumpelstiltskin?

"I'm home!" I hear someone say. It's Emma. Perfect timing.

"Hello love," Killian tells her, with a much kinder tone than what he was using with me.

"I assume that you behaved?" Emma asks me.

"Of course," I say and smile at her and then turn to Killian, "Like I said, I'm a nice person."

Emma looks from Killian to me, me to Killian. She opens her mouth to speak, but the closes it. She turns to me.

"Snow and David asked if you could spend the night here. Is that ok?" Emma tells me. Wow, do they hate me that much? I'm seriously not that bad of a person. I might of made a few mistakes in life, but I've moved on.

"Sure," I decide, "It would be an honor to spend the night at the Savior's house."

"Flattery is not going to work on us," Killian says and I get upset. I shoot him a death stare and open my mouth to speak, but before I could say anything Emma interrupts.

"Ok, I don't know what's going on with you two, but it's going to need to stop," she tells us.

"I'll stop if he stops," I say, moving my head towards Killian.

"And I'll stop if she stops," Killian says, nodding towards me.

"Well, if you both stop, then I guess that we won't have a problem," Emma tell us, "Now shake hands."

Really, she's going to make us _shake hands_? We aren't five years old you know! Killian looks just about as annoyed as I am about this. I sigh and walk up to him. When I hold my hand out, he tenses.

"Seriously, I promise you that I don't have a weird disease," I promise.

Killian is hesitant, but slowly takes my hand and we shake.

"Good," Emma says and turns to me, "I have some extra cloths for you in here, and don't fight back on it, you can't wear those cloths forever, trust me."

I realize that she's holding a shopping bag in her left hand. I inwardly role my eyes.

"Thanks," I tell Emma and take the bag.

"Your room is upstairs, third door to the right. The bathroom is one room across the hall. If you need anything, ask me, Killian, or Henry. And, please, try not to kill Killian," Emma informs me.

"I'll try," I say and go back up the stairs.

"So you're staying?" A voice asks and I jump. I look behind me, and realize that the voice was Henry's.

"Yeah, it appears so," I tell him.

"Cool," he says, "Your room is next to mine."

I look at the door next to his room. Sure enough, it was the third door to the right.

"Cool," I say and open the door. Inside the room is just a bed, dresser, and a desk. Although there is a window with a nice view to the ocean.

I sit down on the bed and dump out the contents of the shopping bag. I poke through a lot of plain white, red, and black T-shirts, some skinny jeans and shorts, a pair of pajama's, and even a new jacket, before finding a dark green shirt and navy blue shorts at the bottom.

I decide to wear those. I'm used to blending in into the background of things, and dark colors are good for that. I go to throw the bag away, but I spot something in it and decide to take a look. It's a note from Emma.

 _Hey,_

 _I know that it's probably difficult for you right now, with everything going on, but please bear with me. If you don't like any of the cloths, don't be afraid to let me know. Seriously, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask someone._

 _I know what it must be like for you right now; I've come from a similar background. You build up walls so high, to keep out the pain. You never want to get hurt again like you were before. I've been there and done that. Those walls may keep out pain, but they also keep out love. It's difficult to get used to, the feeling of being loved. Well, the feeling of love in general._

 _Don't worry, you'll get used to it. If I could, you can too._

 _Please try not to hurt anyone while your here, because many people here in Storybrooke take that very seriously, and you don't want to know what happens when the citizens get mad._

 _I don't know what the Black Fairy did to you, but I know that you won't talk about until you're ready. So when you are, we're here for you._

 _—Emma_

There are tears in my eyes when I finish the note. Not too many people understand me, but Emma…..she's different. She gets me. But she got part of it wrong.

No one can love me. My walls will never go down. And nobody can hear about what She did to me.

Nobody.

"Don't cry," a voice behind me says. What is it and voices behind me today?

"Gideon. What a surprise," I say and turn around. Gideon is behind me, just as I suspected.

"Come on, you always cheer up when you see me!"

"Yeah, well, not today."

"Something's bothering you. What?" Gideon asks and sits on the bed next to me. I take a deep breath. I can't tell him. I just can't. Not yet anyways.

I don't reply and shake my head.

"You can tell me," he says.

I look Gideon in the eyes. Those eyes that I once trusted. Those eyes that I used go to for comfort. But not anymore.

"No, I can't," I reply.

"Yes you can, you just don't want to talk about it," Gideon says.

"So what if I don't want to talk about it?" I ask, raising my voice a little bit.

"I'm your friend."

"You used to be my friend. _We_ used to be friends. But friends don't leave each other, which is exactly what we did."

I'm almost yelling now. Gideon looks so hurt that I almost want to apologize, but I don't. He hurt me, more than what She did. Because of him, I will always be alone.

"But, you said—"

"I only said it because it was part of the test."

"But what about after I saved you?"

"Since when did you save me?"

"The butterfly? When you transformed back, remember?"

"So I might of forgotten my anger for a second, that doesn't mean anything!" I shout, standing up off of the bed.

"Should I have left you as a butterfly then? Were you happier there, because I can send you back!" Gideon shouts back. We're causing so much noise that it won't be long until someone comes into the room.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Emma shouts behind me. Right on time.

"Doesn't matter, he's leaving now," I tell her and glare at Gideon.

"Is that what you really want me to do?" he asks me, "Because I'm the only one who understands what you went through."

"You have no _idea_ what I went through!"

"I—"

"No, I don't care what you have to say, get out!"

"But—"

"No, _get out_. Now!"

"Cobra, please," Gideon pleads. I'm shocked. He remembers our nicknames, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry. Please forgive me."

Gideon's eyes are watering and it takes me a moment to realize that mine are too. Do I want to forgive him? Can I forgive him? I don't know.

"I'm not sure that I can," I whisper.

Gideon doesn't say anything. We stare at each other for a while before he decides to leave. In a cloud of orange smoke, he's gone.

What have I done?


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"What was that about?" Emma asks after Gideon leaves. I turn around to look at her. She must be so confused right now, but I don't really want to talk about it. So I don't.

"We had an argument," I reply, summing up the encounter.

"Something tells me that it was more than an argument," she says and crosses her arms over her chest, "What was this _test_ thing?"

I take a deep breath, "It was to prove his loyalty. He failed… And we both got punished."

Emma doesn't seemed satisfied with this answer.

"Come on, there's more to the story than that," she pesters.

"Nope, that's it. Now are you done asking questions? I've got stuff to do," I tell her. I hope that she asks no more questions because I so don't want to talk about it. Just the thought of it makes me nervous.

"No, sorry. You can't leave this house."

"Really! Come on! Why?!" I complain. Seriously, I'm done with this shit. Why can't anyone leave me alone!? Maybe I should of stayed. Actually if it weren't for Gideon, I wouldn't be here right now. He better watch his back because I'm coming.

"Because you won't answer my questions. Be thankful I'm not putting you in jail right now."

"That's how you treat new people here? When they don't answer a question the way you want, you put them in jail? Wow, I'm starting to wish that I've never come here. Good luck not dying."

"Wait, do you know something?" Emma asks with a confused look on her face.

"Yes, but I'm not telling you."

"You know I could arrest you right now."

"And I'll just escape."

Emma sighs.

"Name your price," she asks, finally catching on.

"Let me be," I tell her just like I told Henry.

Emma thinks about this for a bit. I really don't know what her answer is going to be. She seems conflicted about what to do.

"Fine," she agrees and for a second I got worried that she wouldn't take the deal. We shake hands.

"The Final Battle and the Savior was all that She talked about. She hated the Blue Fairy because she knew her darkest secret. Something like that anyways. But it was rumored that She wasn't always Dark. Or that she was even a fairy. If you look hard enough, I'm sure that you'll find out the truth. That's what heroes do, don't they?" I tell Emma. That's actually not all of the information that I know. I know that She has Gideon's heart. But no one else needs to know that because I'm going to fix it. Then he'll be sorry.

"Thanks," Emma says with a relieved look on her face, "Do you know of anything that might have information on her?"

"Normally that would come with another price, but it still counts as information," I explain, "You might want to try the other fairies. Or the mines."

"The mines?" Emma asks, but I don't answer.

"I'm getting tired," I lie, "Can I go to bed now?"

"Sorry, that's not going to work on me. I have a superpower; I can tell when someones lying."

"Of course you can," I mutter.

"Come on, let's have dinner," Emma says, changing the subject.

—

 **Later that night:**

I toss and turn in bed, trying to fall asleep, but just can't. I sigh and get up. I look outside of the window. Storybrooke is so beautiful at night. I lean my head against the cool glass of the window. Slowly I start to drift of to sleep.

 _Dream:_

 _As the guards escort me to Her room, I start to worry more and more. What is She going to have me do this time?_

" _I'm glad that you could make it," She says once we've gotten through the doors to her chamber. She waves her hand and the guards leave us._ _I get scared. I'm on my own now._

" _What would you like me to do this time…..Mother?" I ask, gritting my teeth when I say_ Mother _. She's not my mother._

" _I need you to act for me. Can you do that?" She tells me. As usual I don't question her and just nod my head._

" _Of course, Mother."_

" _Good. You'll know what to do when it's time. And I don't need to remind you to keep quiet?"_

" _Of course Mother."_

" _Now, off you go," She says, waving her hand for me to go back to hell._

 _I bow and practically run away. What does she want me to act out? Will I have to pretend to die again? That one was scary!_

 _When I get back to the mines, it's not long until Gideon comes in. We all stare for a bit, but then resume work. Everyone is afraid of Gideon, although I know that my friend is still in there._

" _Attention," Gideon shouts, "Gather round."_

 _We slowly stop what we're doing and get into formation._

"Now _!" he yells and we jump into position, our heads bowed._

 _Gideon stares at us, with our grimy cloths and dirt on our faces. Compared to us, Gideon is royalty._

" _My mother's been quite generous to you," he says, "And now one of you has betrayed her, and stolen something. A key. Return it now, and you'll face only my wrath and not her's."_

 _He looks at us for a bit. None of us move; none of us answer. This is what She must have meant. This is when I'm supposed to act._

 _I open my mouth to say that it was me but Gideon interrupts me._

" _No one?" he asks and takes off a leather cord with a flask filled with Black Fairy Dust. He holds it up for all of us to see, "Then I have no choice. With just a bit of magic, I can turn you vermin into— well— vermin."_

 _Gideon quickly grabs Fredrick by the collar of his shirt._

" _I didn't take it! It wasn't me. Please!" Fredrick shouts and I try to speak to save him, but Gideon interrupts again. I hope that Gideon doesn't use the dust because we all know what will happen and some of the younger children don't need to see it._

" _Yes, of course, but you're about to be something far more important. An example," Gideon tells him. He uncorks the flask and is about to pour some into his hand but I cut in._

" _Wait wait wait!" I exclaim, "It was me. It was me."_

 _Gideon looks pleased with himself and pushes Fredrick away. I walk through the crowd to Gideon who faces me._

" _Well then, little bug. It's time you learn your lesson then."_

 _I realize that Gideon doesn't remember me._

" _You don't remember me, do you?" I ask him. He looks confused._

" _And the hero, Gideon, fought valiantly until he slayed the great spider from the echoless forest," I recite. Gideon looks at me, finally realizing who I am._

" _Cobra?" he whispers. I don't respond, "I thought you were dead."_

" _Turns out I'm not. This must ease some of that guilt for you. Learning I didn't die by the Black Fairy's hands all those years ago."_

 _By now, I'm not acting, but telling the truth. Gideon looks upset with himself, but then seems to pull it together._

" _You— you know I had no choice."_

" _It sounds like you've been telling yourself that for some time. But you do have a choice now."_

" _My mother won't be happy if I let the culprit go free."_

" _No, no, I know my old friend is still in there! Deep down inside and I know he wants to make it up to me."_

 _We stare at each other for a while until Gideon breaks the silence._

" _And how could I possibly do that?"_

" _You can be the hero you were meant to be. Help me defeat the Black Fairy."_

 _Gideon doesn't answer and binds my arms with chains. He pulls me with him. I know that we're going to Her room, but he thinks that I'm clueless. I believe that She actually wants me to bring Gideon here, so this works out anyways._ _I start acting again._

" _Where are you taking me?" I ask._

" _You know how_ _dangerous it is to even think about what you want to do to Mother?" Gideon replies. I decide on telling the truth now._

" _If this protects the ones I care about, then it's all worth it!" I exclaim and Gideon stops._

" _Protect them from what?"_

" _Haven't you ever wondered why the Black Fairy is collecting all this dust?"_

 _Gideon thinks about this for a bit, but doesn't answer._

" _Years ago, the Black Fairy used her dust to create a most terrible spell. It was called the Dark Curse."_

" _The Dark Curse?"_

" _She was obsessed with perfecting it and never stopped collecting the dust. And now….. I have to wonder what else she's capable of."_

 _Gideon looks at me with sad eyes._

" _What happened?" he asks, "after….."_

 _I tense up at this question. Why should he care what happened to me?_

" _It's better left than said," I admit. It's quiet in the mines for a bit._

" _I'm sorry. I regret it everyday. I was weak. I could barley survive the mines. And what you endured….it would of….I'm sorry I was weak." A tear has rolled down Gideon's check. My eyes are watering too. But… do I want to forgive him? Can I forgive him? I want my friend back, but what if he leaves me again? I couldn't handle that._

" _We were children," I decide on saying, "But now, we must stop her before it's too late."_

" _What do you suggest we do?"_

 _I smile. Gideon actually wants to help. I'm still telling the truth._

" _There's someone in another realm. A brave hero called the Savior. We just need to reach her, Hero."_

" _How?"_

" _I've heard rumors of a crystal ball, a uh, magical orb, that will allow us to communicate across the realms. If you help me, we could save everyone."_

 _Gideon nods his head yes. We continue the path to Her room._

" _This is where she keeps all of her most powerful possessions," Gideon informs me once we reach our destination, "If the orb exists, it'll be in here."_

 _He leads me to a glass tank that looks empty, but it really is a storage unit for powerful objects. Of course, once again, Gideon thinks that I'm clueless._ _He reaches his hand inside and it seems to disappear, but I know where it has gone. Gideon soon pulls out a black orb and I immediately know that that's it. He smiles at me._

" _Thank you Hero," I tell him, "I knew you'd come through for us."_

" _Now, lets see if we can reach this Savior." he replies and waves his hand over the orb. It glows red for a bit, but then explodes. She's here._

" _Such powerful toys are not left for such disobedient boys," a cold voice says. The Black Fairy._

" _Mother?" Gideon asks, confused, "How did you know we were here?"_

" _I lead you here," She admits, "just as I lead your friend to my keys."_

 _I look at Gideon and he finally realizes what's going on._

" _This whole thing… It was a test, wasn't it?" he asks._

" _From the moment you arrived, you were supposed to be_ different _, Gideon," She says, advancing towards Gideon, "You were a gift. My loyal son."_

" _Gift? You stole me from my parents."_

" _They abandoned you! I'm the one who took you in, gave you a home, taught you, fed you, shared with you everything that I had! And this is how you repay me? I am_ so _disappointed in you, Gideon."_

" _No," Gideon says and surprises me, "You can't intimidate me anymore. I should of stepped up to you years ago."_

 _She smiles and laughs a bit, "Gideon, how many times do I have to tell you? You are_ not _a hero."_

" _Yes I am. And I know you've been hoarding the Black Fairy Dust. And I know that you're planning to do something terrible with it. But I'm not going to let you. These people have suffered long enough!"_

" _Have they?"_

 _The guards rush towards me._

" _No no no, stop!" I cry and they grab my arms, "No, don't!"_

" _As far as I can see, this one has just begun to suffer," She says._

" _NO!" Gideon shouts and thrusts the Black Fairy Dust at Her. She looks startled and dodges._

" _How dare you use that on me!" She yells and grabs it out of his hands, "I gave you this magic!"_

 _She holds the bottle at Gideon's throat like a knife._

" _You wouldn't use that on me."_

" _Oh Gideon, haven't you learned? There are so many ways to hurt a person."_

 _Then She throws the dust to her left. I don't have anywhere to go, thanks to the guards, and the dust hits me square in the chest. In a cloud of black smoke, I'm on the floor. I realize that I'm a butterfly._

 _Gideon face shows a ton of different emotions, but mainly fear._

" _Or a bug," She says and walks over to me. She's going to squash me! She's going to squash me! I'm going to die!_

" _No, no! Please, please don't!" Gideon cries._

 _I realize that I have wings and that I could fly away. I try and try, but my wings feel like cement._

 _The last thing I see is the look of pain on Gideon's face before everything goes black._

 _The last thing I remember is that Gideon didn't even try to stop her from stepping on me._

 _He betrayed me. Again._

 **Real World:**

"Wake up, wake up," a voice calls. I wake with a jolt. I take a deep breath. I'm not dead, I'm not with Her, I'm in the Savior's house. I'm safe. I look at who the voice belongs to. It was Henry.

"Are you ok?" he asks, concern in his eyes. I brush a stand of hair out of my face.

"Yeah…..Yeah I'm ok," I pant, "What happened?"

"I heard you crying and mumbling, 'No, no, please don't hurt me!' so I thought that you were having a nightmare and that I should wake you up."

"Thanks, but you were a bit too late," I tell him. Then I realize that I probably should not have told him that because now he's going to ask me what my dream was about. Henry squeezes my hand.

"You were dreaming about what happened to you, weren't you?" he asks. I'm surprised that he figured it out.

I take a deep breath. I don't want to tell him. I don't want to tell him the memory. It wasn't even accurate. That's not what happened. I was able to escape. But that's how the nightmare always goes. I always die. And Gideon…well…..I don't know what becomes of him. I hope that he becomes the hero he was meant to be though. In the dream at least.

"It's ok, you don't have to tell me," Henry says.

"No matter how many time I have that dream, it always ends the same," I tell him, "I always die."

"But you're here now, so that's all that matters."

"I guess."

There's silence for a bit.

"Thanks Henry, again," I say, breaking the silence.

"Of course. Do you want me to stay with you in case you need someone?" he asks. Truthfully, I would love it if Henry stayed with me, but it brings up too many painful memories. And I'm not a little kid anymore.

"No thanks," I answer. Henry looks into my eyes, searching for something. He's probably wondering if I'm lying, which I kind of am.

"Ok. You know where to find me if you need me," he says and leaves my room.

I try to fall back asleep, but I just can't. And I'm a little scared. I don't want to have another nightmare. So I decide to stay up for the rest of the night.

—

 **A/N**

 **Hi, 1FunkyMonkey here,**

 **Sorry that it's been a while since the last chapter. I've sort had writers block. I know what I want for the end of this story, but I'm not quite sure how to get there. I have some ideas though.**

 **For the next week, I'm going to be away from home and I'm not bringing my laptop with me so all of my updates are going to be from my iPad, which I find harder to update on. I just want to give you guys a heads up that the format for the next chapter or two might be a bit weird.**

 **Thanks for reading and have a fantastic day!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 **Henry's POV:**

At breakfast the next morning, the girl seems really tired. I see bags under her eyes and I just know that he stayed up last night. We eat in silence. After breakfast, when Mom and Killian are doing the dishes, I pull her aside.

"Please tell me that you didn't stay up all night," I say, already knowing the answer. She sighs.

"I couldn't sleep," she answers, "not after that."

I'm speechless. The girl is actually communicating with me.

There's a peck on the window next to us, and I look over to it. A bird carrying a small scroll is perched on the windowsill. The girl opens the window and the bird hops in. She takes the scroll and reads it as the bird flies out of the window. I watch as the girl's face turns into a frown and then a scowl.

" _She did not_ ," she growls and quickly exits the room. I go after her.

"Hey, where are you going!" Mom calls before the girl could get out of the door. She turns to face us.

"To give the Black Fairy a piece of my mind!" she responds and storms out of the house. It's silent for a bit before anyone says anything.

"Should we follow her?" Killian asks.

"Yeah, we probably should," Mom answers and follows the girl out of the house. We all pile into the yellow Bug and Mom drives around for a while before finding the girl, entering the woods. The Bug couldn't drive on the dirt path that she was going down so we get out and continue on foot.

We find her at the entrance to the mines.

"Really!" Mom complains, "We could of driven here!"

"Calm down love, let's just find out what's going on, and then we can be mad," Killian tells Mom.

"Well, let's go," I say and enter the mines. Thanks to the dwarfs, the mines were all lit up, so we don't need a flashlight. We continue down the same path and it's not long until we hear the clinking of pickaxes on stone.

"Do you hear that?" Mom asks.

"Come on," I say and follow the sound.

Then I see the girl. She seems to be headed towards the sound too. We follow her, and when we get to the noise, well, we were surprised. I was expecting dwarfs to be the miners, not a bunch of kids dressed in rags.

"It's you!" one of the kids exclaims as the girl comes into their view.

"Jennifer!" the girl exclaims. They run up to each other and hug. The girl pulls away and cups Jennifer's face in her hands.

"Did She hurt you?" the girl asks, anxiety in her voice.

"No, She just brought us here and told us to continue our work," Jennifer tells her.

"Don't worry, you won't have to for much longer."

"I don't understand Ali, why are we here? Why are you here? We thought that you died!"

"Natalie?" a voice rings out before she could answer. A boy, about 23 years old, comes out from behind a wheel barrow filled with chunks of stone.

"Fredrick!" the girl exclaims again and runs up to hug him.

"Ali why are you here?" Fredrick asks.

"It's a long story, really, but I'm glad that you're ok."

"Me too," Fredrick says and they embrace again. Then, Fredrick puts one of his hands around the girls neck — Natalie, they call her — and starts choking her. The kids around us don't seem to notice and just continue mining. Even Jennifer has continued back to mining. I watch as Fredrick's form shifts until he's the Black Fairy.

"I told you, _Natalie_ , love makes you weak," she says, choking Natalie harder.

"No," Natalie whimpers. The Black Fairy laughs.

"Since when did you start working for the heroes, Natalie? You know that you'll never be one of them," she continues, "I guess that I haven't taught you well enough."

The Black Fairy throws Natalie on the ground and stares at her, eyes turning green.

"No! Please don't!" Natalie cries, "I'll stop, I'll stop."

"That's better," the Black Fairy says and her eyes go back to normal, "Now apologize."

Natalie looks from the Black Fairy to us.

" _I'm sorry_ ," she mouths and then turns back to the Black Fairy.

"I'm sorry… _Mother_."

"Good," the Black Fairy says, smiling, "Now, my next order for you. Kill them."

Then she leaves in a cloud of black smoke. Natalie turns to face us. I get nervous for a second.

"The Black Fairy's right," she says, "I'll never be a hero."

And then she walks past us, leaving us with the miners. I look at Emma and Killian.

"What was that?" I ask.

"I don't know, but I know someone who does," Killian tells Mom and I.

—

"So what are we doing again?" I ask Killian as we make our way down to the place where Mom (Regina) keeps all of the most dangerous people in Storybrooke.

"The Crocodile was able to put a magical cuff on Gideon, taking away his magic. He can't hurt us," Mom (Emma) tells me, "All we need to do is ask him some questions and hope he answers. If he doesn't… well…."

"Oh," I say.

We reach Gideon's cell and mom opens it with a special key card. When we walk in, Gideon stands up to face us.

"Why are you here?" he demands, "Are you here to kill me?"

"No, we have questions about your friend," Mom tells him. Gideon perks up at the mention of the girl— I mean Natalie.

"What did you do to her?"

"Nothing. We want to know what _you_ did to her."

"I messed up."

"How?"

"I left her."

"Why?"

"I was weak."

"Stop toying with words and tell us what happened already!" Killian shouts, getting tired of having no answer.

"Killian, please, calm down," Mom says, putting her hand on his arm. Slowly, Killian starts to calm down.

"Why did she lie to us. She had a name," I tell Gideon. He seems confused.

"No, she doesn't," he replies.

"Natalie is what the kids called her."

"What kids?"

"You didn't know? The Black Fairy brought over some of her workers to work in the mines for her."

Gideon's eyes widen.

"She didn't."

"She did."

"What I want to know," Mom cuts in, "is why Natalie seemed to be working for the Black Fairy too."

Gideon seems even more confused at this.

"No, I was the only one who worked for the Black Fairy."

"Apparently not."

"The only reason why Natalie would work for the Black Fairy is if she has magic. Which she doesn't. So you must be the one lying."

Killian sighs.

"Come on, love, let's get out of here. We're not getting any answers."

"Yeah," Mom agrees, "Let's go kid."

Then we leave.

"Did you guys notice how confused Gideon looked when we told him about Natalie?" I ask Mom and Killian once we get home.

"I know. Why didn't she tell us?" Mom says.

"I knew that girl was bad news," Killian says.

"Maybe she was nervous about what we would think of her," Mom suggests.

"Or, maybe, she doesn't like her past to be known," a voice rings out. I recognize it as Natalie's. I turn around and there she is.

"Don't worry, I won't kill you. I'm done working for the Black Fairy. Right now, my main goal is to get my friends out of there." she tells us. I think that those were the most words that Natalie has ever said to us. Mom seems hesitant to reply.

"You were here the whole time?" she finally says.

"Yeah, so?"

"Don't you know that it's rude to enter someone else's house when the owner isn't home?" Killian tells her.

"I thought that you guys were right behind me," she says.

"You knew that we were following you?" Mom asks, surprised.

"Yeah, you weren't exactly silent."

"Why did you lie? You have a name," Mom says.

"Names hold power. You should know that by now."

Then Mom's phone rang. She answered and then looked at us with a worried expression on her face. Then she hung up.

"We forgot to lock the door. Gideon's escaped." she tells us.

"Bloody hell," Killian growls, "Well, we better go and stop him before he hurts anyone."

Killian storms out of the house and Mom looks at Natalie and me.

"You two stay here and wait for us ok?" she asks and we nod our heads. But before Mom gets out of the door, she turns around and says, "You know what? Henry, you come with us. Natalie, I'm sure that you can go unsupervised for a few hours, correct?"

"Yeah sure," Natalie tells Mom and I smile.

"Thanks Mom," I say and follow her out the door.

"Have fun tracking down Gideon!" I hear Natalie shout after us. I wonder if she meant something by it, or if she was actually wishing us good luck. I hope that she was wishing us good luck because we don't need anymore Darkness coming after us.

 **Natalie's POV:**

As I watch Killian, Emma, and Henry go after Gideon, I feel a sinking feeling in my stomach, like something bad is about to happen. Well, I'm already pissed that the Black Fairy has decided to bring my friends here, but whatever's coming, it's going to be worse. I can just feel it.

I walk to the kitchen, bored already. What should I do while they're gone? They can't be gone for too long, right?

"Why did you lie to me?" I hear a voice behind me say. I turn around, knowing that that voice belonged to Gideon.

"What do you mean?" I ask, wondering what Emma, Killian, and Henry told him.

"About your name. Natalie."

I cringe at my name. I didn't choose it, the Black Fairy did. It's just one more thing she's done to me that I hate. Actually, she's done a lot of things to me that I hate. I take a deep breath before answering Gideon.

"I—I," I stutter, not really sure what to say. Gideon looks at me, his eyes searching for an answer.

"How many lies have you told me?" he finally asks. I hesitate before answering him.

"Over 10," I tell him, barely over a whisper. I hang my head, ashamed of myself. I remember every lie I told Gideon, every secret I've kept from him; I have a list. Every time a new lie comes out of my lips, I add it to my mental list of: Lies That I've Told Gideon. It's only when he asks me that I realize how many lies I have told him.

Gideon remains silent for a bit, processing what I've just told him.

"Why?" he asks, "Why so many lies?"

"I can't answer that," I reply quickly, knowing that if he knew what I am, he would never talk to me again. Even after all of the things he's done to me, a small part of me still wants to be his friend.

"How big of a secret do you have to tell me all of those lies?"

"Gideon, please. I don't want to talk about it."

"That's your answer for _everything_! I'm sick and tired of it! Just tell me already!" Gideon shouts, frustrated at me, which is understandable.

"Gideon, I know that you probably hate me right now, and you have every right to," I tell him. He starts to open his mouth, but I continue talking, "But if you knew what I am, what I've done, you would never want to see me again, you would never talk to me again, you would probably want to kill me," I have tears in my eyes now. I rub my arm and take a shaky breath before quietly saying, "And I couldn't live with that."

Gideon stares at me and I stare at him. We stay that way for a couple seconds before Gideon turns around and looks out of the kitchen window. I walk up to the window and stand next to him. We stay that way for a couple more seconds, both looking out of the window, lost in our own thoughts. Gideon sighs. I look at him.

"I thought you were mad at me," he says, and looks into my eyes. I tear my gaze away from him and look back to the window.

"Well, part of me is angry at you, but another part, well, I guess that it still wants to be your friend," I admit to him.

"Is it ok that I feel the same way?" Gideon asks and I smile.

"Well, if it's ok for me to feel like this, than I guess that it's ok for you too," I tell him, which make Gideon smile. But it's not long until he has a confused look on his face.

"Would it be ok if we're not friends right now because it would be great if I could have some time to myself to figure everything out," Gideon says very fast. It takes me a little bit to understand what he said.

"Yeah," I answer him, after I figured out what he said. We're silent of a bit.

"So what should I call you now? Cobra, Natalie?" Gideon asks me.

"Call me Ali," I answer without even thinking.

"Ok, well, I guess that I'll see you around," Gideon says and waves his hand to teleport away in a cloud of orange smoke, but before the smoke covered him completely I say,

"Goodbye Hero."

Then he's gone.

I sink down to the kitchen floor, trying to suppress the smile on my face, but failing to.

I can't wait until the next time I see Gideon because, no matter what, I plan on telling him everything. Like, _everything_ everything. All the lies I've told him, all the secrets I've kept from him, all of it.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

"Did you find him?" I ask Emma, Killian, and Henry as they walk back into the house after looking for Gideon. They all have a tired look on their faces. It's been almost five hours since they've left the house.

"Nope," Henry say and flops onto the couch.

"I'm sorry," I say, although I'm not really sorry. I'm actually glad that Gideon got away. It gives me a chance to find him and talk to him without anyone listening.

"So, how were things here?" Emma asks me, sitting down on a chair in the living room.

"Boring," I respond, adding that lie to my mental list of: Lies That I've Told Emma (and her family). I really hope that one day, I could finally be truthful about something to the people of Storybrooke. All my life, I've just lied, just kept secrets from my friends. One day, I'll tell them all the truth. Just not now.

"You sure?" Emma questions, looking a me like she could see past my lie.

"Yup."

"Ok."

Killian doesn't say anything, but sits down in a chair next to Emma. He's also looking at me like he knows that I'm lying too. But then again, whenever I see Killian, he always looks at me like that. Or with a scowl on his face. It kind of brings back old memories.

 **Later at 1:30 AM:**

I wake up, gasping for air once again. It was another nightmare. I can't rememberer it though, like I usually do. I squint my eyes, trying to remember it—although I probably don't want to—but all I come up with is a blur. I see a faint outline of a glowing heart, and realize that it was probably a dream about one of the bad things I did. It's probably a good thing that I don't remember the nightmare then.

I look at the clock and see that it says 1:30 AM. I don't really feel like going back to sleep.

This time, instead of staying up in my room, I grab my jacket and head outside. I creep along the house, hoping that I won't wake anyone up. Once I make it to the front door, I open it slowly, trying to not make it creak. Luckily, it didn't. Now to find a place to go.

I run outside, enjoying the feeling of the crisp night—sorry, early, _early_ morning air—on my face.

I get a cramp in my side and stop running. I pull up the hood of my jacket and start to walk. Where, I have no idea. But I do know that if I wander, I'll probably end up lost. Oh well.

I come across a lake and decide to sit down on a bench near the water. The water looks so peaceful and calm. I listen to the crickets chirp and the very early birds sing. I gaze into the water, and see my reflection. My, thick, curly, black hair, my green eyes, my pale skin—definitely not the face of a murderer. No, an assassin. Yet it is at the same time.

A few tears roll off my face and fall into the water, creating ripples that ruin the reflection of my face in the water. When it comes back, it comes back as a monster. My cheekbones grow longer, my eyes glow red, my skin changes color until it's ash grey, and I grow fangs in my mouth. My hand flies up to my face, feeling around to make sure that it doesn't look like that. Thankfully, it wasn't.

I run my hand over the water, messing up the face of the monster staring up at me. But that was a mistake. As soon as the face fades, my nightmare comes flooding into my brain.

 _Dream:_

 _I walk down the halls of our prison, going back to my cell from a long days work. I hear a loud thud and turn around to see Andrew and his gang messing with each other. Again._

 _I hide behind my hair, hoping that he wouldn't see me. Andrew seems to have labeled me as his nemesis or something. I don't really know why. All I know, is that he likes to beat me up._

 _Despite my efforts to hide, Andrew notices me. He looks at his gang and they all start cracking up. Probably at me. I feel my cheeks grow red. Andrew comes over to me and looks me in the eyes._

" _Hello, loser," he snarls and then pushes me against the wall. The very hard, very bumpy,_ stone _wall. My head hits against it and I know that there will be a bump there later._

" _Stop," I mumble, but Andrew doesn't listen. I lose my balance and fall down. Onto the very hard, very bumpy,_ stone _floor. Yay, more bruises. Andrew and his gang laugh at me some more._

" _What, loser, walk much?" He asks and kicks me in the stomach._

" _Stop," I mumble again, clutching my, now hurting, stomach. I look up at Andrew and I see him staring at me. All of a sudden, I feel a strange tingling sensation run through my body. I feel, hatred. And, anger. Towards Andrew and everyone else who has hurt me. I decide that it's time to make them pay. I slowly stand up and face Andrew and his gang, a scowl on my face. I snarl._

" _Woah," Andrew says, backing up, "Calm down, it's all in good fun."_

" _Fun? Fun!?" I scream, getting a few looks from some passer-byes. But I don't care. Let them see Andrew and his friends get beat up, "I don't think that hurting people should be considered_ fun _!"_

 _I feel a new energy run through my veins. And I know exactly what to do with it._

 _I push Andrew against the wall, mimicking what he did to me. Acting purely on instinct, I thrust my hand into his chest, right where his heart is._

 _Then, I rip it out._

 _I look down at the glowing heart in my hand. An actual, real live, beating heart._

 _In the back of my mind, I know that I should be scared right now, but I'm so blinded by my anger that I ignore it._

 _I look at Andrews face and see a face full of fear. I don't care. Slowly, I crush his heart until it's just a pile of ashes. I release the ashes from my hand and they fall on the floor. Andrew's eyes go lifeless as he slumps against the wall._

 _Breathing heavily, I turn around and see the faces of Andrew's gang. The looks of terror; of fear. I realize what I've just done and did the first thing that came into my mind._

 _I ran._

 **Back at the Lake:**

I'm paralyzed. I can't move; I can't breath. All I can do is sit and stare at the monster in front of me. I don't even bother to make it go away this time because it's true. I am the monster. The monster is me. We are one and we will always be one. There's nothing I can do about it. I must control the monster inside me though. No one else should get hurt because of me. I've inflicted so much pain and I've killed so many that I don't know if I can even redeem myself. But I can try. There has to be a way to kill off all of the Darkness in my heart.

But I don't know why I had that dream. That memory happened such a long time ago, I nearly forgot about it. Although how could I forget the first time I used magic? I sigh. Why couldn't the first time I used magic be like, I don't know, fixing a broken window or something? Killing someone! I mean, come on!

My life was never the same after that day. I remember it so clearly now.

I remember the Black Fairy calling me to her room, offering me a job as her assistant. I remember her teaching me magic, Dark magic. I remember all of my missions, how I used my magic as an escape from the real world. It was like an addiction. The more I used it, the more I relied on it.

I sigh. It's probably time to go back to Emma's house. I decide to cheat and teleport to her house instead of walking. I wave my hands and, in a cloud of white and black smoke, I appear in my room.

As I climb back into bed, I can't help but wonder what it would be like to be a hero for a change.

—

The next couple days were quite boring. Nothing exciting happened, nothing new. I mostly hung around the Sheriff's Station while Emma and her family were doing whatever they were doing.

But as I was twirling around in chair, it dawned on me where Gideon's heart may be. I can't remember why I thought of it, but it just came to me.

I jump up out of the chair and went over to what Emma called, "the phone". Apparently, if I pushed the correct numbers, it would "call" somebody and we could talk. It's pretty cool magic if you ask me.

I pushed the numbers Emma left for me. She told me that they were her phone number and to call her if there was an emergency. I think that this counts as an emergency, I mean, it's Gideon's heart after all.

I hold the phone up to my ear, just like Emma instructed. It beeped for a while, but soon I heard Emma's voice.

"Hello, this is Emma," Emma says, over the phone. It still amazes me how this is possible.

"Hi, it's Ali," I reply.

"Ali, I told you to call me if there's an _emergency_ ," Emma explains.

"I know, but this is an emergency. I think I know where Gideon's heart is," I tell her.

"I'm on my way," Emma says and then hangs up. I think that what she called it. I start to twirl in the chair agin. It's really fun!

A little while later, Emma, Mr. Gold (Rumplestiltskin's name in this world), and Belle come into the station. Emma comes over to me and stops me chair. She looks me in the eyes.

"Where is Gideon's heart?" she asks in a very serious tone. It kinda scares me.

"Space," I tell her. Emma exhales through her nose and stands up. I assume that she doesn't know what I'm talking about.

"So your telling me that Gideon's heart is on, like, Mars or something. Yeah, I don't think that's true," Emma says, crossing her arms.

"No, no, not that kind of 'space'," I correct her, " _Space_ is like, ugh, how do I explain it?"

I clench my jaw, a thing I do when I'm thinking or if I'm nervous. How does one explain Space when it's such a complex thing? I barely understand it myself and to now have to explain it to someone else? Yeah, I'm not sure if I can do that.

"Space is kind of like a locker for very powerful magic items," Mr. Gold says, helping me out, "Each magician or sorcerer or whatever would have their own 'locker' and if they had a powerful item they didn't want laying around, they would put it in Space."

Emma and Belle both look at Mr. Gold.

"I've read many books on magic, and I've never heard of Space before," Belle says.

"Space is an old practice that almost no one does anymore and that's why the Black Fairy does it," I explain, "Also, if a magician had a spot in Space to store their items, only that magician could get their stuff out of it. I think that's what the Black Fairy did with Gideon's heart. It would be the most safe place to put it without having to put any enchantments on or around the heart."

"You know a lot about the Black Fairy. How come?" Emma asks me. I shrug my shoulders.

"I'm very observant?" I say, but it comes out more like a question. They can't know my past. Not yet anyways.

"But, if Gideon's heart is in Space, then only the Black Fairy can get it out right?" Emma questions. I want to tell her that I might be able to get it out, but they can't know about my magic. I actually have a "locker" in Space too. It doesn't hold much, just things that I hold dear to me.

"Yeah," I sigh.

"So we're back at square one, aren't we," Belle says and we all agree.

"Damn it!" Emma exclaims and slams her hands onto her desk. It startles me so much that I fall out of the chair.

"Fuck," I mutter, receiving a glance from Emma. I get up and examine my elbow, which now had a scrape on it. Thanks Emma. I sigh and clench my jaw some more, trying to think of a way that we could get Gideon's heart. And then there's the problem of, what if it's not even in Space? Then, an idea starts to form in my head.

"I think that I have an idea. A very bad idea, but it might work," I pause and look at Emma, "I'll gain back the Black Fairy's trust. She probably knows that I have disobeyed her orders by now. I'm really just surprised that she hasn't come to murder me yet. But, anyways, if I get close enough to her, maybe I can catch her with Gideon's heart and get it back."

Everyone's silent for a bit, probably trying to comprehend what I just told them. Shit, did I tell them too much? Probably. But I really want Gideon's heart back.

"So you did work for the Black Fairy then," Mr. Gold says slowly. I nod my head, a little ashamed of myself.

"How do we know that you aren't working for her now?" Belle asks me. I was wondering when they were going to ask that.

"I know that there's really no proof that you can trust me right now, but I really need you to," I tell them, looking at the floor, realizing that they could easily lock me up now because I'm suspicious or something. But they haven't. So, they probably trust me enough to be not locked up. And besides, Emma let's me be on my own for a bit when they're out looking for Gideon and the Black Fairy. That has to count for something.

"Can you give us a moment?" Emma asks and, without waiting for me to answer, pulls Mr. Gold and Belle out of the room, away from my eyes and ears. After a couple minutes, they come back into the room.

"Ok, do it, with a couple rules in place, we might be able to pull this off. One, you have to communicate with us at all times. You have to tell us what happens every time you're with the Black Fairy. Two, you have to answer every question truthfully from now on. And three, you can't hurt anyone. If you really need to do something to them, knock them out. Just make sure that no one is severely injured, ok?" Emma tells me, all at once. I can live with rule one and three, but I don't know about two. I guess that I'll have to try though.

"Understood," I say, nodding my head.

"Good. But before we begin, I need your heart," Emma says and holds out her hand. I look at Mr. Gold and Belle. They look shocked and confused. They must not have been told this. But I don't think that Emma would want my heart.

I notice something weird in Emma's eyes. They were no longer green. They were dark brown. It's the Black Fairy. Shit. How long was the Black Fairy posing as Emma? Why didn't I notice it before? Was Mr. Gold and Belle someone else too? The only other person I can think of who would do that would be Gideon. The Black Fairy has his heart, so which one is him? I look closely at them. I decide that it's Mr. Gold, because Gideon loves his mother and he would never do something like this to her.

The Black Fairy seems to grow impatient and I can sense that she's going to strike soon.

"Get down!" I yell as soon as the Black Fairy summons a ball of Dark Magic and throws it at me. I knock it aside, remembering my training.

The Black Fairy throws more Dark Magic at me. I block all of them. I look to my side and see that Belle is hiding under the desk, her face full of fear.

"Run, I'll distract her," I whisper so only Belle could hear me. She nods.

"I think that we should take this fight somewhere else, don't you?" I say and in a puff of white and black smoke, the Black Fairy and I are in the woods. I left Gideon and Belle in the station, knowing that Gideon would hopefully resist the Black Fairy and not hurt his mother. He might even be able to save her too, in case anything bad happens to come their way.

The Black Fairy summons a ball of fire. It's a crimson color, the same color as Mr. Gold's. I block the fire ball. Another comes my way. And another and another. I block them all.

"You know, you can't keep playing defense forever!" the Black Fairy taunts. I clench my jaw and summon my own fire ball. It's just like my puff of smoke when I teleport things, white and black.

With all my might, I hurl the fire ball in the Black Fairy's direction. She easily disintegrates it. With a wave of her hand, I'm paralyzed. I squeeze my eyes shut in concentration and break out of the spell.

I look the Black Fairy in the eyes and try to fuel my anger and hatred for her. The branches from the nearby trees come barreling towards her. The Black Fairy try to avoid the branches, but I make them follow her. I watch as she summons fire and burns all of the branches, until there are none.

With a wave of the Black Fairy's hand, in a puff of black smoke, I feel myself shrinking and changing form until I'm a tiny ant. At least I'm not a butterfly. But I still don't like being an insect. With some consternation on my part, I change my appearance to be a fully grown lion. I growl at the Black Fairy and get into an attack pose. She just stand there with a look on her face like, _I would like to see you try_.

I charge at her at full speed. The Black Fairy just teleports behind me and blasts me with a beam of magic. It tingles a bit, but mostly just makes me more angry.

I change at her again, but this time, I'm the one that teleports behind _her_ and I bit her arm. She flails her arm around, but I hold on. It's not until I feel a burning pain in my side and I release her arm with a loud yelp. I notice that my fur or skin or whatever is burned. Great. Just what I needed. I transform back into a human, clutching my burning side. The Black Fairy laughs.

In that moment, I've never felt so much anger and so much hatred before and I scream, releasing all of the magic inside of me at her. The Black Fairy looks startled as she is flung a good forty feet away, hitting her head on a tree root. I stand, panting and I was starting to see spots. Sometimes, when I use too much magic, it takes a toll on my body and I usually end up unconscious.

The Black Fairy, who's now holding her head, and glares in my direction. She peels her hand back and examines it. I see blood. Lots of it. tHe Black Fairy looks at me again

"We're not over yet," she growls and teleports away in a cloud of black smoke.

I take shuddering breaths as I try to get air into my lungs. I can't get enough air fast enough. I start to panic, even though I know that it'll make it worse. My last thought is, " _I won_ ," before I fall over and my vision goes black.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Hi, 1FunkyMonkey here,**

 **So I know that I haven't done an Author's Note on this story for a while yet and I'm sorry. But I just couldn't talk about OUAT until it was confirmed that there was going to be a Season 7. And now that there is, well, it's not quite what we were expecting was is?**

 **So, you guys know that fish tank thing that was in the first chapter of this story. Where Gideon and Ali got the listening orb thing from? Well, that's one way to get to Space. I'll try to explain it a bit more later, but for now, just sit back, relax, and read about my first magic duel that I've ever written! Well, for Once Upon A Time at least. I hope that you liked and...**

 **Thanks for reading and have a fantastic day!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:**

"Come on, there has to be something wrong with her! She's _unconscious_ for God's sake!" I hear someone—Emma—exclaim.

"I'm sorry, Emma, but I've run some tests and nothings wrong except for a second-degree burn on her side that should not have knocked her out," somebody else says. I don't know who. It sounds like a male's voice. Emma and the man bicker some more and I take this time to take in my surroundings.

It feels like I'm under a thin sheet and on a hard, lumpy bed. Instead of my black shirt, shorts, and jacket, I'm in a hospital gown. Slowly, I open my eyes and I'm blinded by the bright lights. A needle is in my arm, connected to a bag thingy. I go to take the needle out but Emma stops me.

"You're awake," she says. I scoff

"Great observation, you get a gold star," I mumble.

"How do you feel?" Emma asks, sitting down on the bed.

"Well, other than just waking up from being unconscious, I'm doing just fine. How are you?" I answer.

"I guess if you feel well enough to be sarcastic than I guess the your feeling better."

I wish that I could respond to that, but I really can't. I'm waiting for Emma to ask the question that I've been dreading.

"So, Belle has told me that you have magic," Emma says and I mentally slap myself. Why couldn't I just stay out of stuff like this? Life would just be so much easier.

"Yeah," I respond, "so?"

"So, where's the Black Fairy?"

"You expect me to know that?"

"You obviously have some sort of past with her, you must know where she is or something."

"I'm sorry to break it to you, but I don't know where she is. _But_ , I might know what she's trying to do."

"Finally, something useful!" Emma exclaims and throws her arms up in the air. She quickly calms down though. Her arms cross over her chest again, and her face is scary, "What is it?"

I take a deep breath, hoping that Belle was able to tell Emma everything that happened at the station. Although, I don't really at the same time.

"The Black Fairy is after my heart," I admit. I watch as Emma's face turns from a scowl to concern.

"What would happen if she got her hands on your heart?"

"You guys are going to be in major trouble if that happens."

"Great! Fantastic! Just what I need!"

"She's not going to be able to get it though," I say, knowing that if the Black Fairy try to get my heart, her's would probably get fried in the process.

"And _why_ is that?"

"I don't have it," I tell Emma, waiting for her to freak out. 3…2…..and…..1.

"So you're telling me that she already has it! Great, we're doomed!" Emma shouts, receiving some stares from passing nurses. I double check Emma's face to make sure that it's actually her before I tell her any more information. It is. Good.

"No, it's not in this world," I say, "It's in Space. She can't get it. I put it there a while ago, so she could never control me. I'm surprised that Gideon hasn't done the same."

"Ok, anything else that might be useful to know about you?" Emma asks me and I would probably do the same if I were her. But I don't want to tell her all about me. It's a secret for a reason.

"Do I have to?" I whine, trying to get out of it.

"Well, it would have been helpful if you didn't lie to us about pretty much everything about you, so anything interesting that I need know about you? Like, you parents or something?"

"No. No parents. I will tell you _some_ things, but not that."

"Your parents must be in Storybrooke though. They might want to know about you."

"Oh, trust me, they don't."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Can I go now?"

"Let me ask Dr. Whale. And you're staying with me once you are cleared to leave."

"Fine."

Emma leaves to find this Dr. Whale guy and I release the breath that I've been holding. I hate when people ask me about my past. I never tell them anything, but sometimes the truth leaks out. They look at me sometimes with pity, others hatred. But they always treat me like I'm dangerous or something. But it's true. I'm a danger to everyone that I meet. That's why I need to find and kill the Black Fairy as soon as possible.

Emma and Dr. Whale come back to my bed and I recognize Dr. Whale as Dr. Frankenstein. I try to avoid eye contact because Dr. Frankenstein and I have a past together too. I'm surprised that he agreed to help me.

"I'm glad to see that you're doing better and I think that it's safe to say that you can leave," Dr. Whale says. He unhooks me from the weird machines that I was connected to and practically pushes me out the door. I get changed into my other cloths and summon very important item. I quickly out it away before anyone can see it. Before we leave all the way though, I tell Dr. Whale,

"I'm sorry."

He doesn't say anything and I get a weird look from Emma, but I just shrug my shoulders and keep walking. We get into Emma's interesting looking carriage that she calls a car. I kind of remember reading about them, but it seems like a life time ago. We're silent on the way to Emma's house.

"Do you want to go straight to my house, or do you want to go to Granny's for lunch?" Emma asks me, making it so it wasn't silent anymore. I think about her question for a while. I _was_ hungry, but I was a little tired at the same time. The painkillers that Dr. Whale gave me were making me very sleepy.

"Lunch at Granny's would be great," I decide and Emma heads in the direction of Granny's instead of her house.

"Ok, Granny's it is."

We arrive at Granny's in about five minutes and the first thing that I notice is that everyone is there. Snow, David, Killian, Mr. Gold, Belle, Regina, Henry, and Zelena. When Belle see's me. she gets up out of her chair and heads straight towards me. I hide behind my hair, a bit nervous for a second, but then Belle does something that only one other person has done to me. She hugs me. It was a weird feeling, being hugged. It's been a long time too. When the hug is over, Belle looks at me.

"Thank you. For saving me, I mean. That was very kind of you," she says. A warm feeling spread through me. I didn't recognize it at first, but the realize that it was hope. Hope that these people could maybe accept me for who I am. And maybe they could help me be who I've wanted to be for the past couple years. A better person. No, a hero.

"You're very welcome," I tell Belle, resulting in another hug. Once she's done, she ushers me to the table and I sit down. A cheeseburger is set in front of me and I wolf it down, realizing how hungry I really was.

Everyone is in a conversation, and they look like a real family. They all look so happy. If I didn't know better, I would say that they were a regular family, in a regular town, full of regular people.

But the happy mood was killed quickly when a sudden chill came into the air. Everyone went quiet. I sink into my chair, dreading about what was going to happen next. A laugh resonates through the room.

"Who's there?!" Killian shouts, "Show yourself!"

In a puff of black smoke, the Black Fairy appears, still laughing.

"Look at you all, acting like a normal family! Aren't you supposed to be a family of heroes that save the day? At this rate, you'll lose the Final Battle! Although, at this point, you've already lost," she growls.

I sink in my chair more and I teleport into the alleyway outside of Granny's. If a fight breaks out, I'll help, but I really don't want to be there when the Black Fairy makes the first blow. A couple minutes go by and I consider going back into Granny's to see if there was something wrong. But before I could do that, Regina and the Black Fairy appear on the street in front of Granny's, each in a cloud of purple smoke.

"I hate to break it to you, but this is my town, my rules," Regina sneers.

"I was hoping you'd say that. I've done so many Dark things in my life, but I've never had the chance to kill a queen," the Black Fairy taunts.

"And I've never killed a fairy," Regina calls back, falling for the taunt. Regina and the Black Fairy start to circle each other. I immediately sense that a fight is going to go down and Regina might be the one who loses.

"I know you think that you own this town, but I invented it. All of it."

"Oh, please. You didn't even have the guts to cast your own curse."

As soon as Regina says that, everyone comes rushing out of Granny's a frantic look on their faces. At the front of the pack is Snow.

"Regina!" she calls, concerned. The Black Fairy and Regina stop circling each other. The Black Fairy's back is facing the heroes. And me. But I'm hardly a hero am I? Regina holds up a hand.

"Stay back, I've got this," she says.

"No you don't," I mutter under my breath so no one can hear me.

"I should of buried you in that dwarf mine," the Black Fairy says, going back to taunting Regina.

"Yes, but you didn't. And now, thanks to my sister, your plan is over," Regina tells the Black Fairy. She's so wrong. My friends are now in the mines, slaving away to find Black Fairy Dust. I need to find a way to get them out. But now is not the time. I need to watch this fight and make sure that Regina wins.

"You made a fatal mistake, which you are going to pay for _right now_!" the Black Fairy yells, and throws magic at Regina, knocking her back. Regina holds her ground. The Black Fairy goes to throw some more magic at Regina, but I step out of the shadows and freeze her before she could do anymore damage.

"Stop. It's me you really want," I say confidently. Regina steps back, letting me take the fight instead of her. The Black Fairy breaks out of my spell and we start circling each other, much like she and Regina did earlier.

"Well, well, well. Look who's come to join the party. You're late by the way," the Black Fairy tells me. I'm not surprised. I know that my magic isn't strong enough to beat the Black Fairy. But maybe if I had some help…..?

The Black Fairy summons a ball of Dark magic and throws it in my direction. I tuck and roll, dodging the attack. I reach inside my boot and pull out the dagger I've put there earlier. I put it there ever since Gideon taught me that I could be a hero. I've been planning to kill the Black Fairy for so long now. Here's my chance to prove myself.

The Black Fairy hold out her two hands, summoning two fireballs. She throws them at me, but I deflect them with my dagger.

I dodge all of her fire balls, and with all my might, I throw the dagger. The dagger leaves a cut across her cheek. I was aiming for her throat, but she moved and I got her face instead. The Black Fairy yelps in pain, but she waves her hand over the cut and it heals. I swear under my breath. I thought that this was the dagger that I enchanted to not be able to have its cuts healed by magic. Apparently, I was wrong.

"You think that that little weapon will work against _me_! Ha, you really have gone soft, haven't you!" the Black Fairy laughs. I get angrier. My hands start to twitch. I feel my whole body shaking. I look at my hands, which are now glowing bright white intertwined with black. Although they're more black than white. There's more Darkness in my heart than Light.

I raise my head and look the Black Fairy in the eyes. I watch as her eyes widen with fear. But maybe I imagined it because I blink and her eyes go back to normal.

I raise my hands and fire all of the magic I've got at her. She barely gets out of the way. The road where the Black Fairy was originally standing explodes. I fire again and again. Each time the Black Fairy's response time is slower. I strike one more time, and I manage to clip the Black Fairy's side. Her hands fly to her side, but I can still see the blood that she's trying to cover.

"I will get you one day. You and your whole family!" the Black Fairy growls. She looks up at Emma. I follow her gaze and see a very confused Emma.

"No," I say, almost a whisper.

"No!" I try again, this time shouting.

"They don't know who you family is? Well, I guess that they'll have to learn the hard way!" the Black Fairy exclaims and quickly teleports right up to my face. Before I can react, she reaches her hand inside my chest. Quickly, she rips it out. I watch as her face falls when she comes up empty handed.

"Where is it?" she asks, with a surprised expression.

"I guess that the student finally beat the teacher," I tell her and blast her back with a beam of magic.

"One day, you will regret you did that. I'll give you five days. Five days to give me your heart. If you do, your family will be spared. If not, they will have to pay!" the Black Fairy says, evilly. She looks at my— I mean Emma's family— and laughs. Then she teleports away in a cloud the color of black.

Silence fills the air. I try my hardest to ignore the stares coming from Emma's family, but I can't help it.

"You don't have a heart," Henry says, stating an obvious fact.

"So," I reply, "It doesn't matter. I've got two days to come up with a plan, two days to set up, and one day to enact it."

I start to walk away, but someone takes my hand. I turn around to see Regina, face of concern. Or something like that. Also confusion and surprise.

"You saved my life too. Thank you," she tells me, looking me in the eyes. I look at her quickly, but then become suddenly interested with the road. Everyone is silent. Again. I wonder if they're waiting for me to say something. I guess that I should tell Regina 'your welcome' though.

"It was nothing," I mumble, still interested with the road. I start to count the cracks in it, hoping for a distraction. It works. Only for a couple seconds though. I get to five before I hear someone clear their throat. I look up.

"You don't have to do all of this, but you are. Why?" Emma asks. I sigh. They were going to get the truth out of me eventually, but maybe if I twist my words enough, they'll think that I'm someone else. Besides, it wasn't actually Emma who told me not to lie to her. I change my gaze and look at Regina. I'm pretty sure that she's figured it out.

"You know why," I tell her. She blinks and then nods.

"You want to tell them or should I?" she asks. I think about this for a bit, and decide that it'll sound better coming from me. Just in case, I prepare to teleport away in case this goes wrong.

"I'll do it," I sigh. I turn to Emma and tilt my head, wondering how she hasn't figured this out already. I take a deep breath before exhaling and telling her.

"Hello, Mother," I say, slowly, and keep my gaze on her.

"No," Emma says and comes towards me.

"I thought that you were gone," she whispers she reaches out and touches my shoulder. I flinch at the contact, not used to it. Emma notices and removes her hand.

"Lily says hi!" I blurt out before I know what I'm doing.

"You know her?" Emma asks.

"I know everyone," I answer, without hesitation. This is something that they can know.

"That's why you told Whale 'sorry' isn't it? What did you do to him?" she questions.

"Long story short, I gave him the idea to bring people back from the dead," I answer again.

"And that's bad because?"

"Cause it got his brother killed."

"I'm sorry, but that happened _before_ you were born," Zelena cuts in, "Unless you have a way to time travel, not the way I did it, then that's impossible."

"You know I expected Emma's daughter to look more like her," Regina says, backing up her sister's claim that I'm not Emma's daughter. Emma whips around to face Regina and Zelena.

"No, it's her," Emma defends me, "Lie-detector remember?"

Emma turns around to face me. She opens her mouth to say something, but closes it.

"She looks like you, Mom. When you were in the Enchanted Forest, I mean," Emma says finally. Snow comes up behind Emma.

"But she has your eyes," she comments. I don't like how they're speaking about me, acting like I'm not here, but I am.

"If I knew where you were, I would have went after you sooner," Emma tells me.

"It's fine," I grumble, although it's clear that I didn't mean it.

"I'm fine," I say in a more convincing tone.

"Uh huh, of course you are."

—

 **A/N:**

 **Hi, 1Funkymonkey here,**

 **Sorry its been a while, its just that there's this pesky thing called school that I have to attend and it's been taking a lot of my time. And the time that I have left, I've been doing a very important task; watching YouTube. So….yeah. That's been happening.**

 **And preparing for Season Seven, and my only complaints are that its basically a remake of season one, just that the "Savior" is cursed too and that the portals look like the portals from Doctor Strange.**

 **Thanks for reading and have a fantastic day!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

 _ **15 Earth Years Ago…..**_

"Fiona, are you sure that this will work?" Olivia asks me as we fly across the realms.

"Of course. I've planned for everything," I respond, annoyed that she still doesn't trust me, "Now repeat to me the plan."

"We'll enter the hospital as sisters and say that we're here for our new daughter, the Savior's daughter. We will take her back to the Black Realm, but we won't tell them that, you'll use magic to change their memories and fake her records throughout the years," Olivia repeats the plan to me.

"Correct friend. We're here."

Olivia and I descend down to the ground of The Land Without Magic. Our forms change until we look like the citizens that live here. I'm excited, but my face remains unchanged. The child should have magic, and finally, I have found someone who can help me defeat the fairies and the Savior. It makes it even better that the Savior's killer is her daughter as well. The plan is working perfectly.

 _ **A Couple Hours Later….**_

"She's so small, is she supposed to be that small?" Olivia asks me once we got back to my castle.

"You say that about all children," I snap at her because it's true, "Natalie is the perfect child to help me with my plan."

"Where shall I put her? Surely not with the other children," Olivia questions. So many questions.

"Yes, put her with the others. It will toughen her up before her magic kicks in," I answer.

"But that could be years."

"Time woks different here. Years here can be days there. I think that her magic will kick in when she's about ten. How about you?"

"Ten sounds reasonable, Fiona."

"I'm glad that you agree with me, friend," I tell Olivia and watch her as she hands Natalie to another child to take care of until she's five and can take care of herself. My plan is just getting started.

 _ **Five Black Realm Years Later….**_

"Guess what Aliiiiiiii," Fredrick sings to me.

"What? What Freddy?" I ask because he seems so excited, and there's really nothing to be excited over here. Maybe they finished mining early this week?

"It's your fifth birthday today! You get to live on your own and learn how to mine with the rest of us!" Fredrick exclaims. My face falls. I don't want to learn how to mine with the others. I'm happy where I am at the moment.

"Wow, that's incredible," I say, trying to sound happy even though I'm not.

"You're not happy?" Fredrick asks.

"It's just that, I don't want to be a slave like everyone else is," I answer.

"We're not slaves, we're just doing our job. Besides, it is kind of fun," Fredrick says.

"I guess."

 _ **Five More Black Realm Years Later….**_

I walk down the halls of our prison, going back to my cell from a long days work. I hear a loud thud and turn around to see Andrew and his gang messing with each other. Again.

I hide behind my hair, hoping that he wouldn't see me. Andrew seems to have labeled me as his nemesis or something. I don't really know why. All I know, is that he likes to beat me up.

Despite my efforts to hide, Andrew notices me. He looks at his gang and they all start cracking up. Probably at me. I feel my cheeks grow red. Andrew comes over to me and looks me in the eyes.

"Hello, loser," he snarls and then pushes me against the wall. The very hard, very bumpy, stone wall. My head hits against it and I know that there will be a bump there later.

"Stop," I mumble, but Andrew doesn't listen. I lose my balance and fall down. Onto the very hard, very bumpy, stone floor. Yay, more bruises. Andrew and his gang laugh at me some more.

"What, loser, walk much?" He asks and kicks me in the stomach.

"Stop," I mumble again, clutching my, now hurting, stomach. I look up at Andrew and I see him staring at me. All of a sudden, I feel a strange tingling sensation run through my body. I feel, hatred. And, anger. Towards Andrew and everyone else who has hurt me. I decide that it's time to make them pay. I slowly stand up and face Andrew and his gang, a scowl on my face. I snarl.

"Woah," Andrew says, backing up, "Calm down, it's all in good fun."

"Fun? Fun!?" I scream, getting a few looks from some passer-byes. But I don't care. Let them see Andrew and his friends get beat up, "I don't think that hurting people should be considered fun!"

I feel a new energy run through my veins. And I know exactly what to do with it.

I push Andrew against the wall, mimicking what he did to me. Acting purely on instinct, I thrust my hand into his chest, right where his heart is.

Then, I rip it out.

I look down at the glowing heart in my hand. An actual, real live, beating heart.

In the back of my mind, I know that I should be scared right now, but I'm so blinded by my anger that I ignore it.

I look at Andrews face and see a face full of fear. I don't care. Slowly, I crush his heart until it's just a pile of ashes. I release the ashes from my hand and they fall on the floor. Andrew's eyes go lifeless as he slumps against the wall.

Breathing heavily, I turn around and see the faces of Andrew's gang. The looks of terror; of fear. I realize what I've just done and did the first thing that came into my mind.

I ran.

 _ **In the Black Fairy's Chambers…**_

Olivia comes running into my chambers, a frantic look on her face.

"What is it now," I ask, annoyed that she interrupted me while I was spying on the Snow White and James…I mean David.

"It has happened," Olivia tells me. I perk up.

"Bring her to me," I command and get ready for my newest addition to my team.

A few moments later, a very confused Ali is in front of me. She doesn't seem to look any different. I thought that when her magic kicked in, she would look tougher, more like a villain. Oh well, we can work on that later.

"Do you know why you're here?" I ask the trembling girl.

"I'm sorry Mother, I didn't know what I was doing, please understand," she pleaded.

"You're not here because you're in trouble child," I tell her and she looks up at me, "You have a special gift that not many others have. Magic. I am willing to train you if you wish. If you learn how to control it, no one will underestimate you again. You could control them, they will fear you, you will have a power that they have naught."

Ali's eyes widen.

"You will teach me this magic?" she asks, "And then no one will question me again? I will control them?"

"Yes, I feel it. You have the power to do great things, child," I say and Ali thinks it over for a bit. Then she looks at me with fire in her eyes.

"When do we start?"

Now that's more like it.

"Right away."

 _ **Thirty Black Realm Years Later…**_

 **Natalie's POV:**

I stand in the middle of the chaos. People are running around me, fire is everywhere, and the screams of the dying are in the air.

I smile.

Mother will be proud of me this time.

I grab a nearby villager and without hesitation, I rip their heart out and crush it. They crumple to the ground, dead.

I do this until everyone is dead. All of the houses are gone, burnt to the ground. No more livestock running around. The crops have all been destroyed. I smile once more.

I summon a piece of wood and dip my fingers into someones blood. Then I write on the board:

 _This is what happens to people who try and mess with me._

 _I would reconsider if I were you._

 _Unless you want this happening to your town._

 _XOXO Natalie Swan_

Perfect.

No one will interfere with my work now.

Yes, Mother will be so proud.

I hear the sounds of horses. Damn. I look up in time to see knights upon horses looking around the village. I stand up slowly. They spot me, eyes full of fear. Good. They have heard of me.

"Tell your king. The Seer is _dead_ ," I spit at them and in a puff of white and black smoke, I disappear and reappear inside the Black Fairy's chambers.

"It is done Mother," I tell her.

"Good. Your next mission is perhaps the most important yet. I need you to turn the Dark One's son evil. Will you do that for me?"

I know better than to question my missions, but this one seems crazy. I open my mouth to ask, but then I remember what happened last time I did that.

"Of course Mother," I nod.

"You will need to age down to his age for this mission. You know how to contact Mr. Time, correct?"

"Yes Mother."

"Age down to an infant. Tell him to let you keep your memories. And don't forget to pay him."

"Yes Mother."

"Now go. The Dark One's son is being born as we speak, and I must be there to collect him. I expect you to be done by then."

"Yes Mother," I say and leave her room. I thought that the Dark One's wife was dead, but he must have found another love.

After Mother will collect the baby, and I get my hands on him, he will have no intentions of ever being a hero. Ever.

—

 **A/N:**

 **Hi, 1FunkyMonkey here,**

 **Sorry I haven't written in a while. It's the holiday season and this little thing called writers block. So, on that note….. I got tired of reading all of these stories about heroes, so I'm making one about a villain. Will Ali remain a villain, or will she change? Keep reading to find out!**

 **Happy holidays everyone and if you don't celebrate any holidays, have a happy winter.**

 **Thanks for reading and have a fantastic day!**

 **P.S.**

 **I think from now on, I'm going to take a page out of Adam and Eddie's book and in each chapter, there will be present times, and flashbacks. And who knows, maybe I'll make a holiday special?**

 **Thanks for reading and have a super duper fantastic day!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12:**

Since I told Emma who I was, she has been way to over-protective. I'm not a kid anymore and I don't need an adult to watch me all the damn time. Although it _is_ a strange feeling. Fiona never really cared about me, even if she acted like it. I knew that I was just a toy for her to play with.

Sometimes it's nice, like the way Emma checks in on me when she thinks I'm asleep or how she always makes sure that I have enough to eat. She actually cares about me. Fiona never did that.

Emma also started this thing where once a week, she'll take me out and show me something new in this realm. One of the first things I learned was that people here don't carry weapons on them while out in public. That doesn't stop me from carrying a dagger in my boot though.

I was able to "escape" from her house and immediately went to the woods. Storybrooke is so different from the Dark Realm, but the woods are almost the same. Less dark and scary, but still, I feel more comfortable here.

Although it _is_ about to snow, and it never snows in the Dark Realm. It hardly even rains. I've only seen snow a few times, in a different realm, of course.

I sit down on a rock. It's cold.

" _You know that you can always kill Emma,"_ the Voices say behind me.

"Go away," I tell them.

Ever since I've started doing good, I've been hearing these Voices. They tell me to do bad things to innocent people. The Voices went away when I came to Storybrooke. I though that that was because I was in a different realm, but _noooooooo_. A couple days ago, I started hearing them again.

"You shouldn't be out here. It's going to snow," the Voices say. I sigh.

"I told you to _go away_!" I shout and turn around. Shit, it's Gideon

"Sorry, I'll go away," he says.

"No, it's okay, I wasn't—" I start to say, but then I realize that I can't tell him about the Voices. Then Fiona would know, and I can't have that.

"I was just thinking out loud," I reply.

"I thought that you would stop lying to me?" Gideon asks and raises his eyebrows.

"I'm not lying," I lie again.

"Ali, if you ever want to be friends with me again, you have to stop lying to me," he tells me, "I should just go."

I open my mouth to tell him to stay, but then the Voices interrupt me, " _Just let him go, he doesn't care about you. You don't need him."_

The Voices _love_ to talk about Gideon. Probably because he's the one that helped me see that what I was doing was wrong.

"No, it's alright, stay," I tell him and Gideon sits down next to me. We sit in silence for a couple minutes.

"You know, I've never seen snow before," he says. That doesn't surprise me. In the Dark Realm, it's usually just cold and cloudy. I remember that the sun came out once. Fiona was mad.

"I've seen it a couple times," I reply, "It's really pretty."

"I've seen pictures," Gideon says.

"Oh."

" _Why are you talking to him! He doesn't care about you!_ " the Voices shout in my head. I kindly tell them to shut the fuck up.

It starts snowing and I realize that I forgot a jacket. I'm not that cold though. In the Dark Realm, its cold all the time, so the people who live there have a higher body temperature than people who live in different realms. For those of us weren't born in the Dark Realm, our body has adapted to deal with the colder temperature. I did an experiment on it once.

"Are you cold?" Gideon asks me.

"Not really," I admit, "It's not as cold as I thought it would be, to be honest."

"Yeah."

We sit in silence for a while.

"I should go before Emma sends out a search and rescue group to come and find me," I tell Gideon and he laughs. I don't even remember the last time that I've heard him laugh a true laugh.

"Alright, see you soon?" Gideon says, but it sounds more like a question.

"Sure," I reply and get up. I hold out my hand to help him up, and Mr. I-don't-need-help actually takes it. When he gets up, I realize for the first time how tall he is. He's almost a five inches taller than me.

I realize that I was staring at Gideon for _way_ to long. I blink a couple times and shake my head before stepping back. I smile at him and with a wave of my hand, I disappear and reappear back in my room at Emma's house.

—

 **The Dark Realm Several Years Ago**

I been reading in Mother's library for the whole day, and I still haven't found the answer to my question. I sigh very loudly and get shushed by the librarian.

Earlier today, when I was finishing one of my kills, the victims (a father and son I think) did something that got my brain thinking. I wasn't sure if I could ask Mother about it, so I came to the library instead.

The memory is still fresh in my mind…..

 _I had them cornered in a part of the forest where only very few knew how to navigate. Luckily, I was one of those few and they weren't. The victims were shaking and pleading for their lives. I love it when they do that. It makes the kill feel so much better._

 _I quickly dart forward and stab the older one in the stomach. I decide to let the younger one watch his father (maybe?) die. Right before he dies, he whispers something that I barely hear,_

" _I love you son, and I always will be with you. Remember that."_

 _Then he died. The son cries over his father's dead body. I rip out his heart and crush it._

…. That made me wonder if Fiona ever loved me in the way that a mother should.

In the library I try to find any and all books on love. I found many different definitions for the word love, why we fall in love, and even which parts of the brain activates when we fall in love, but nothing of the type of love a mother should feel for a child.

I move onto the next section in the library. The last section. If it's not in here, then I don't know what I'll do.

I poke through the shelves, skimming through the titles, until I find one catches my eye. It's in English. Mother has almost no books in English.

See, Latin is the native language in the Dark Realm, not English, though there are a few of us who speak it. The first language Mother made me learn was English. I'm not very good at speaking it, but I know how to read and write it.

I also know Spanish, French, Italian, Greek, Russian, and I'm currently learning Dutch.

I pull the book out of the shelves and dust off the cover. The title say something about motherhood. I smile. This is the one.

I flip through the book, skimming the pages until I find a chapter that says its about the _Definition on Being a Mother_ and I begin reading

" 'A mother is a protector, disciplinarian, and friend. A mother is a selfless, loving human who must sacrifice many of their wants and needs for the wants and needs of their children.' " I read quietly and frown. That's the last thing that would describe Mother. Does that mean Mother doesn't love me?

One of my favorite things is doing experiments, especially with magic. For the next few weeks, I watch Mother's actions closely.

She doesn't pay attention to her guards unless they need to get something for her. I once saw a guard ask for a day off because his wife was ill. Mother laughed and wouldn't let him get the day off.

She also doesn't like it when someone talks to her without being asked. I learned that the hard way.

Mother _hates_ it when I ask her questions. For example, I overheard a few miners talk about something called a "birthday". I've never heard of a "birthday" before, so I asked Mother. She slammed the door in my face and I wasn't allowed to eat dinner that night.

I pace my room, a scowl written on my face. I've come to the conclusion that Mother does _not_ love me the way a mother should. All these years she's told me that she loves me, and it's a lie.

Now I want to find out why. Why did she lie? Why does she say that she loves me when she doesn't?

Why?

—

 **Storybrooke Present Day**

I get back to my room, a smile still on my face. I feel weird. I felt like I was floating almost. I've never felt like this before. I didn't feel like myself. I felt great, but couldn't put my finger on what it was called. Then it hit me.

 _Happy_.

I was _happy_.

I haven't been happy in centuries.

I was so lost in though that I didn't here the knock at my door. It opens and I jump.

"Hey," Emma says, "Time for dinner kid."

"I'm not a kid," I reply, but follow her to the kitchen anyways.

The happiness lasts all throughout dinner, and Emma definitely notices. I make sure to always have food in my mouth so that when she asks a question, I don't have to answer. It's rude to talk with food in your mouth; another thing I learned from reading books, not from Fiona, my "mother".

Before I go to bed, I reach into Space and grab the chest that I keep in there for when I travel. I set it down and use my magic to open the lock. Everything's still inside, just as it should be. I pull out some of my books and put them on the bookshelf. Next I take out a necklace. It was made from a leather cord and had eleven beads on it. There was a large bead on the middle with pickaxe on it and an **R** engraved on the back. Five beads sit on each side of it.

I hold the necklace close to my heart and take a deep breath to stop me from crying. I pull out another one, this time with an **N** on the back, instead of an **R**. I put both of them on and smile. Then I crawl under my blankets and fall asleep almost instantly.

I'm proud to say that I have no nightmares.

—

 **A/N:**

 **hey, sorry I haven't posted a chapter in, like, forever. I've had the biggest case of writers block ever. I'm planning on writing a bunch of chapters at once, and then posting them every Saturday.**

 **Like I said earlier in the story, i know how i want it to end, but don't know how to get there. I even have the final chapter written in my head.**

 **once again, I'm sorry for the delay, and more chapters are coming soon.**

 **Thanks for reading and have a fantastic day!**


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